THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 


EDITED    BY 


RACE  G.  HUTCH1NSON 


THE   NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 


THE   BADMINTON  LIBRARY 

GOLF 

BY   HORACE   G.   HUTCHINSON 

With  Contributions  by  LORD  MONOREIFF, 

The  late  Sir  WALTER  SIMPSON,  Bart., 

The  Right  Hon.  A.  J.  BALFOUR,  M.P., 

ANDREW  LANG,  H.  S.  C.  EVERARD, 

and  others. 
With  90  Illustrations 

FIFTH    EDITION 
Crown  8vo.    Cloth.    $2  net. 


LONGMANS,    GREEN,    AND    CO. 

NEW  YORK,  LONDON,  BOMBAY,  CALCUTTA. 


JOHN  BALL,  JUNR. 
(Eight  times  Amateur  Champion,  once  Open  Champion) 


[Front  i.^iio-e 


THE 

NEW  BOOK   OF  -GOLF 

EDITED   BY 

HORACE    G.    HUTCHINSON 

With  Contributions  from 

MRS.  ROSS  (n&e  Miss  MAY  HEZLET), 

BERNARD  DARWIN,    JAMES  SHERLOCK, 

A.  C.   M.   CROOME,  AND 

C.  K.  HUTCHISON 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  PHOTOGRAPHS 


LONGMANS,   GREEN,  AND   CO. 

FOURTH  AVENUE  AND  30-TH  STREET,  NEW  YORK 

LONDON,  BOMBAY,  AND  CALCUTTA 

1912 

All  rights  reserved 


- 


EDITOR'S    FOREWORD 

THERE  is  no  need  of  foreword  from  me  to  appraise 
the  team  that  has  done  the  work  of  this  book.  The 
names  tell  their  good  tale.  All  I  want  to  say  is  a 
word  about  the  manner  in  which  the  work  was  done. 
Mr.  Croome,  as  a  professional  instructor  of  youth, 
was  allowed  a  free  hand  to  tell  people  how  to  learn, 
how  to  use  the  teachers*  lessons,  but  all  the  other 
writers  were  first  given  Mr.  Darwin's  MS.  for  their 
study  and  their  text  on  which  to  say  their  own  say 
as  a  commentary,  yet  without  prohibiting  them  all 
liberty  to  give  their  private  views  expression.  In 
this  way  I  hope  and  think  this  book  has  acquired  a 
unity  which  has  not  belonged  to  other  golf  books 
composed  by  a  team  of  writers.  That  is  the  special 
claim  with  which  it  is  put  forth. 


259886 


CONTENTS 

PAOK 

PROLOGUE :  HOW  TO  LEARN,  BY  A.  C.  M.  CROOME  3 

PART  I.  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION,  BY  BERNARD 

DARWIN — 

PRELIMINARY  NOTE     .                                ...  27 
CHAPTER  I.  DRIVING  : 

(fl)  FIRST  PRINCIPLES  OF   THE  SWING            .                      .  29 

(6)    THB  STANCE 41 

(c)  THE   FOLLOW-THROUGH 54 

(d)  SOME  FURTHER    POINTS   IN   DRIVING       ...  58 

CHAPTER  II.  THROUGH  THE  GREEN  WITH  WOODEN 

CLUBS 67 

CHAPTER  III.  THE  SPOON       .                                       .  74 

CHAPTER  IV.  WITH  IRON  CLUBS          ....  78 

(a)   THE   HALF-SHOT 85 

(6)   THE   MASHIE 92 

(c)   THB    RUN-UP 99 

CHAPTER  V.  IN  HAZARDS       .        .        .        .        .        .105 

CHAPTER  VI.  PUTTING 116 

(a)  THE   PUTTING   STANCE 128 

(6)   ON   TAKING   THE   LINE 135 

(c)   OF   STYMIES .  140 

CHAPTER  VII.  ON  FAULTS  IN  GENERAL    .        .        .146 

(a)   PARTICULAR   FAULTS 154 

vii 


viii  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

PACK 

PART  II.  FROM  THE  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF 
VIEW,  BY  J.  SHERLOCK— 

CHAPTER  I.  EDUCATIONAL     .                                       .  171 

(a)  COACHING 173 

CHAPTER  II.  MY  OWN  GAME                 ....  187 

(a)   THE   SWING 191 

(6)   IRON    CLUBS 197 

(c)  WRIST   ACTION 199 

(d)  PUTTING 206 

CHAPTER  III.  CLUBS-THEIR  SELECTION  AND  PUR- 
CHASE           211 

CHAPTER  IV.  TEMPERAMENT  AND  OTHER  MATTERS  220 

PART  III.  MEN  OF  GENIUS,  BY  C.  K.  HUTCHISON   .  235 

PART  IV.  FROM   THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW, 

BY  MRS.  Ross  (nee  Miss  MAY  HEZLET)       .        .  267 

CHAPTER  I.  DRIVING                                ....  269 

„      II.  IRON  PLAY    .                                                 .  283 

„     III.  PUTTING       .                                                 .  294 

„     IV.  THROUGH  THE  GREEN     .                        .  308 

„       V.  APPROACH  PLAY 318 

„     VI.  IN  HAZARDS        .  .327 

„    VII.  MANY  INVENTIONS  .        .  340 

„  VIII.  THE  LITTLE  THINGS  THAT  MATTER  355 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

From  Photographs  by  Montague  Dixon  and   Co.,   London;  II.  G.  Stone, 

Slough;  A.  Lee,   Portrush ;    The  Sport  and   General  Press  Agency 
Ltd.,  London;   The  Golf  Monthly,  etc. 

JOHN  BALL,  JNR Frontispiece. 

ONE-HANDED  EXERCISE face  page      34 

DRIVING:  TOP  OF  SWING,  „  37 

A  FINE  FINISH „  64 

PICKING  THE  BALL  UP  FROM  A  HANGING  LIE    .  „  72 

A  FULL  CLEEK  SHOT:   TOP  OF  SWING  „  80 

FULL  SHOT  WITH  MASHIE-IRON  :   TOP  OF  SWING  „  84 

HALF-SHOT  WITH  IRON  :    TOP  OF  SWING  „  88 

FINISH  OF  THE  HALF-SHOT  WITH  THE  IRON        .  „  90 
ORDINARY  MASHIE  SHOT  WITHOUT  CUT:  TOP  OF 

THE  STROKE „  94 

FINISH  OF  ORDINARY  MASHIE  SHOT  ...  „  96 

MASHIE  SHOT  WITH  CUT  :   TOP  OF  THE  STROKE  „  98 

FINISH  OF  MASHIE  SHOT  WITH  CUT  „  99 

RUNNING-UP   WITH  THE   IRON       ....  „  101 

FINISH  OF  RUN-UP  SHOT           ....  „  102 

PLAYING  AN  '  EXPLOSIVE  '  SHOT  OUT  OF  HEAVY  SAND  „  108 

AN  '  EXPLOSIVE  '  SHOT  WELL  OUT  ON  TO  THE  GREEN  „  109 

DRIVING  :    SHOWING  GRIP  AND  STANCE      .        .  „  189 

DRIVING:   TOP  OF  SWING          ....  „  192 

DRIVING:   FINISH  OF  SWING     ....  „  193 

b  ** 


x  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

IRON  SHOT  :    STANCE  AND  GRIP         .         .         .    face  page    197 

IRON  SHOT:   TOP  OF  SWING      ....  „  193 

IEON  SHOT:   FINISH  OF  SWING          ...  „  199 

MASHIB  SHOT:    STANCE  AND  GRIP     ...  „  201 

MASTTTE  SHOT:   TOP  OF  SWING          ...  „  202 

MASHIE  SHOT:   FINISH  OF  SWING      ...  „  203 

PUTTING  :    STANCE  AND  GRIP    ....  „  208 

PUTTING:   HOLING  our „  209 

CAPT.  C.  K.  HUTCHISON  ....  „  235 

HARRY  VARDON        ......  „  235 

JAMES  BRAID „  237 

J.  H.  TAYLOR „  237 

ALEC  HERD M  238 

A.  MASSY „  238 

GEO.  DUNCAN „  239 

J.  SHERLOCK „  239 

EDWARD  RAY,  OPEN  GOLF  CHAMPION,  1912       .  „  241 

H.  H.  HILTON  (a  little  anxious)          ...  „  248 

H.  H.  HILTON  (quite  pleased)    ....  „  248 

R.  MAXWELL    .......  „  251 

JOHN  GRAHAM „  261 

E.  A.  LASSEN „  254 

ABE  MITCHELL „  254 

L.  0.  MUNN ,  258 

ANGUS  V.  HAMBRO,  M.P 258 

HON.  M.  SCOTT „  260 

FRED  HERRESHOFF  (America)    .         .         .         .  „  260 

Miss  RAVENSCROFT,  OPEN  LADY  CHAMPION,  1912  „  267 
Miss  E.  GRANT-SUTTIE'S  '  FOLLOW-THROUGH  '  AT 

ST.  ANDREWS  269 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xi 

GRIP  FOE  DRIVING  :  THUMBS  ROUND  .  .  face  page  274 

WRONG  GRIP  :  AS  SOMETIMES  USED  BY  BEGINNERS  „  274 

GRIP  WITH  THUMBS  DOWN  ....  „  274 
BACK  VIEW  OF  GRIP  SHOWING  HOW  CLOSE  HANDS 

SHOULD  BE  TOGETHER  ....  „  274 

MEDIUM  STANCE  FOR  DRIVE — MRS.  Ross  .  .  „  277 

Miss  DOROTHY  CAMPBELL  ....  „  279 

Miss  E.  GRANT-SUTTIE „  279 

Miss  C.  LETTCH „  280 

Miss  D.  CHAMBERS 280 

Miss  STELLA  TEMPLE,  RUNNER-UP  OPEN  LADIES' 

CHAMPIONSHIP,  1912 „  287 

THE  HEELS  TOGETHER  PUTTING  STANCE — Miss 

VIOLET  HEZLET  .....  „  294 

MEDIUM  PUTTING  STANCE  ....  „  301 

Miss  E.  GRANT-SUTTIE  .....  „  308 

Miss  DOROTHY  CAMPBELL  ....  „  308 
SHOWING  HOW  EYE  SHOULD  BE  KEPT  ON  GROUND 

AFTER  BALL  is  HIT  IN  AN  APPROACH  .  .  „  325 

BUNKER  SHOT — MRS.  R.  A.  CRAMSIE  .  .  „  332 

BACK  SWING  FOR  DRIVE — Miss  V.  HEZLET  .  „  340 

Miss  RAVENSCROFT,  OPEN  LADY  CHAMPION,  1912  „  355 


PROLOGUE 

HOW  TO   LEARN 
BY  A.  C.  M.  CEOOMB 


. 


HOW  TO  LEARN 

THERE  are  many  who  hold  that  Golf,  being  an  Art 
and  not  a  Science,  cannot  be  learnt  from  books. 
These  never  tire  of  narrating  the  fable  of  the  Open 
Champion  and  the  Casual  Stranger.  The  latter  had 
arranged  to  visit  Walton  Heath  and  to  play  with  the 
former,  receiving  odds  of  half  a  stroke.  As  the  pair 
walked  to  the  first  teeing-ground  the  visitor  expressed 
a  confident  hope  that  the  allowance  would  prove 
sufficient.  He  had,  he  said,  been  reading  much  in 
the  book  of  Advanced  Golf,  and  believed  that  careful 
study  of  its  contents  had  improved  his  game  by  at 
least  four  shots.  '  Then  I  will  give  you  two -thirds/ 
was  the  reply  of  the  talented  author  of  that  great  work. 
Rightly  apprehended,  the  moral  of  that  fable  is  not 
that  the  reading  of  didactic  books  on  golf  is  necessarily 
and  in  all  cases  a  hindrance  towards  permanent  progress 
in  the  efficient  use  of  the  clubs  :  if  that  were  so,  the 
writers  of  those  books  would  be  guilty  of  doing  grave 
disservice  to  their  kind.  It  is  true  that  numerous 
cases  can  be  cited  of  men  who,  after  reading  such 
books,  have  for  a  time  played  worse  than  they  did 
before.  That  is  because,  while  the  knowledge  acquired 
in  armchairs  is  in  process  of  assimilation,  the  student 

is  apt,  when  he  visits  the  links,  to  think  overmuch 

t 


4  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

about  his  style  and  to  neglect,  at  least  partially,  the 
plain  duty  of  hitting  the  ball.  But  in  the  long  run 
knowledge  proves  itself  to  be  power  on  the  golf- 
course  as  elsewhere. 

In  every  art  theory  is  valuable  only  so  far  as  it  is 
capable  of  being  translated  into  practice.  Nothing 
but  the  theory  of  golf  can  be  learnt  from  books.  The 
beginner  who  has  taken  a  dozen  lessons  from  an  expert 
golfer  will  certainly  be  able  to  beat  another,  his  equal 
in  physique,  who  has  read  all  the  books  about  the 
game  which  have  ever  been  printed,  but  has  not  had 
the  will,  or  the  opportunity,  to  avail  himself  of  practical 
instruction.  Yet  the  books  may  contain  the  whole 
truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  while  the  expert  may 
say  much  that  is  demonstrably  wrong.  But  the 
expert  can  hit  golf-balls,  books  cannot.  Thus  the 
former  by  his  example  can  and  does  minimise  the 
evil  effects  of  unscientific  instruction  orally  conveyed. 
The  printed  word  has  no  corrective  for  wrong  apper- 
ception of  its  meaning  by  the  mind  of  the  reader. 

When  one  sets  out  to  tell  incipient  golfers  '  How  to 
Learn,'  it  is  no  bad  thing  that  he  should  begin  by 
pointing  out  to  them  the  true  place  of  didactic  books 
in  the  scheme  of  education.  Their  function  is  to 
clear  the  ground  for  the  practical  instructor.  The 
beginner  ought  to  spend  all  the  time  and  money 
which  he  can  afford  on  taking  lessons  from  a  profes- 
sional. These  lessons  will  be  pleasanter  for  both 
parties,  and  more  profitable  to  the  pupil  if  previous 
reading  has  so  informed  his  mind  that  he  can  rightly 
understand  what  is  said  to  him,  and  can  correctly 


HOW  TO  LEARN  5 

analyse  the  example  of  the  way  to  hit  which  is  dis- 
played for  his  edification.  The  science  of  the  various 
shots  required  to  propel  a  ball  from  tee  to  hole  will  be 
set  forth  in  subsequent  chapters  by  men  excellently 
qualified  for  the  task,  owing  to  their  notorious  skill 
with  club  and  pen.  This  chapter  is  intended  to  serve 
merely  as  an  introduction  to  their  work.  They,  and 
the  professionals  who  show  to  learners  how  theory  is 
translated  into  practice,  must  inevitably  use  phrases 
which  have  become  conventional.  Many  of  these 
phrases  are  sufficiently  illuminating,  and  need  no 
further  explanation.  The  true  inwardness  of  others 
is  only  to  be  discovered  by  analysis  and  thought. 
For  an  example  of  the  latter  let  us  take  the  recom- 
mendation that  in  executing  short  mashie  shots  the 
weight  should  be  rather  on  the  right  foot.  A  common 
spectacle  on  the  links  is  that  of  a  man,  in  an  attitude 
of  great  discomfort,  trying  to  balance  himself  on  the 
right  foot  while  he  plays  a  little  pitch  up  to  the  hole. 
The  precept  above  mentioned  has  been  seared  into  his 
brain,  and  his  reverence  for  authority  causes  him  to 
stand  as  if  he  had  lost  a  leg  in  a  railway  accident. 
The  fact  is  that  the  great  golfer  has  a  delicate  sense 
of  balance.  Consequently,  when  he  causes  his  right 
leg  to  support  two  or  three  pounds  more  than  half  his 
total  weight,  he  is  acutely  conscious  of  its  unequal 
distribution.  Less  gifted  persons  require  stronger 
evidence  to  prove  to  them  that  they  are  poised,  as 
they  think,  correctly.  Consequently,  when  one  of 
them  tries  to  rest  his  weight  *  rather  on  his  right 
foot/  he  overdoes  it  by  a  stone  or  more,  sways  his 


6  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

ill-balanced  body  as  he  makes  his  stroke,  and  produces 
a  more  or  less  egregious  foozle. 

But  before  proceeding  to  discuss  the  exact  meaning 
of  possibly  obscure  phrases,  there  is  a  matter  of 
supreme  importance  to  be  considered.  It  is  the 
difference  between  method  and  style.  Method  is 
one  and  universal.  Whenever  a  player  who  receives 
the  limit  handicap  hits  a  really  good  shot  he  employs 
the  same  method  as  the  Open  Champion.  The  differ- 
ence between  the  good  strokes  of  the  two  men  is  one 
of  degree,  not  of  kind.  No  doubt  the  spectacles 
presented  by  the  executants  will  be  vastly  different, 
for  each  has  his  peculiar  style,  the  collection  of 
idiosyncrasies  which  he  superimposes  on  the  essentials 
of  method.  A  bad  style  is  one  which  makes  difficult 
the  inclusion  of  all  the  essentials  ;  a  good  one  is  not 
necessarily  graceful,  but  it  ensures  that  the  club  head 
is  presented  square  to  the  ball,  and  is  at  the  moment 
of  impact  travelling  at  the  pace  required  to  produce 
the  desired  effect.  Unfortunately  a  teacher  is  prone 
to  regard  some  point  of  his  own  individual  style  as 
an  essential  of  method,  and  learners,  in  their  anxiety 
to  discover  a  royal  road  to  success,  seize  with  avidity 
on  '  tips '  which,  when  unscientific,  retard  rather 
than  accelerate  their  progress.  For  example,  some 
teachers  find  that  they  themselves  can  hit  the  ball 
more  accurately  if  they  hold  their  clubs  with  part  of 
the  right  hand  overlapping  the  left.  They  strongly 
recommend,  if  they  do  not  insist,  that  their  pupils 
should  imitate  their  example  in  this  respect,  and 
adopt  the  so-called  *  Vardon  Grip.'  They  do  not 


HOW  TO  LEARN  7 

realise  that  the  grip  of  the  hands,  more  especially  of 
the  left  hand,  is  nothing  more  than  the  attachment 
which  links  together  the  two  parts  of  the  club  shaft, 
the  one  part  being  the  hickory  stick,  the  other  the 
left  arm  of  the  striker.  It  is  very  helpful  to  the 
beginner  if  he  realises  that  everything  from  his  left 
shoulder  to  his  club  head  is,  properly  speaking,  shaft. 
The  progress  of  many  towards  steadiness  of  play  is 
retarded  because  they  bend  left  wrist  or  left  elbow  in 
hitting.  No  man  has  a  hinge  in  the  shaft  of  his 
driver  :  it  is  not  certain  that  the  Rules  Committee 
would  pass  such  a  mechanical  contrivance.  Manifestly 
a  hinge  in  the  human  part  of  the  shaft,  though  it  would 
escape  the  ban  of  authority,  must  be  a  cause  of  wildness. 
Just  as  many  people  play  well  with  hickory  shafts 
which  are  not  exactly  straight,  so  many  drive  far  and 
sure  with  their  left  arms  bent.  But — this  is  the 
important  thing — the  amount  of  bend  is  constant 
throughout  the  stroke.  A  pedant  would  call  it 
4  warp  '  rather  than  bend.  This  little  digression  will 
not,  it  is  hoped,  be  regarded  as  irrelevant.  To  return 
to  the  original  point — just  as  the  head  of  a  club  may 
be  joined  to  a  stick  by  a  socket  or  a  skear 1 — if  that  is 
the  right  way  to  spell  the  word — so  the  stick  may  be 
united  to  the  arm  by  varying  arrangements  of  the 
left  hand  and  its  fingers.  Some  grip  very  much  over, 
like  Braid  ;  others,  including  Mr.  John  Ball,  go  to 
the  other  extreme.  Some  have  the  thumb  down  the 
handle,  others  keep  it  round  the  leather.  These  are 
differences  of  style,  and  people  must  discover  which 

1  More  often  spelled  '  scare.' — ED. 


8  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

variety  suits  them  best  and  stick  to  it.  Method  de- 
mands that  the  attachment  between  the  two  parts  of 
the  club  shaft  should  be  strong  enough  to  remain  firm 
when  club  head  impinges  violently  on  its  objective, 
and  so  adjusted  that  the  club  face  is  presented  fair 
and  square  to  the  ball.  None  can  doubt  that  for 
Braid,  Taylor,  Vardon  and  the  strong-fingered  gentry, 
the  overlapping  grip  is  the  best.  Probably  the 
employment  of  it  saves  each  of  those  three  professors 
as  many  as  six  or  eight  shots  in  the  course  of  a  year's 
play.  Every  beginner  ought  to  experiment  in  the 
use  of  it,  if  only  for  the  reason  that  when  a  man  has 
once  grown  accustomed  to  it,  he  is  less  liable  to  alter 
his  grip  insensibly  and  so  introduce  a  cause  of  wildness 
into  his  hitting.  The  question  whether  to  overlap 
or  not  is  one  which  need  not  trouble  the  learner  during 
the  first  few  weeks  of  his  golfing  life.  But  it  is  of  great 
importance  that  he  should  at  once  discover  how  far 
over  the  handle  of  his  club  he  should  place  his  left  hand. 
The  best  method  of  making  the  discovery  is  that 
recommended  by  Sir  Walter  Simpson  in  his  book, 
The  Art  of  Golf.  He  says :  '  Having  placed  himself 
opposite  the  ball,  let  the  player  take  hold  of  his  club 
loosely,  but  so  that,  if  held  short,  the  end  of  the  shaft 
would  pass  under  the  wrist  bones.  Let  him  swing  it 
backwards  and  forwards  freely  over  the  ball,  de- 
scribing an  elongated  eight,  whose  length  is  limited  by 
the  locking-point  of  the  wrist  joints.  After  two  or 
three  such  continuous  figures  have  been  described, 
the  hands,  still  holding  loosely,  will  settle  themselves 
into  a  proper  relation  to  each  other,  and  to  the  shot.' 


HOW  TO  LEARN  9 

The  educational  value  of  Sir  Walter's  recommendation 
lies  in  the  fact  that  it  is  in  some  sort  an  appeal  to 
Nature,  by  whose  decree  each  individual  differs  in 
countless  respects  from  each  and  every  other. 

Again,  in  the  important  matter  of  stance,  the  ultimate 
appeal  is  to  Nature.  When  a  man  wishes  to  deliver 
the  most  vigorous  blow  possible  at  a  fixed  point,  it 
is  natural  for  him  to  place  his  feet  equidistant  from 
that  point.  This  enables  him  to  preserve  his  balance 
while  hitting,  and  consequently  to  time  his  stroke 
accurately.  It  is  extremely  probable  that  no  golfer 
exactly  follows  the  guidance  of  Nature  in  taking  up 
his  position  for  each  and  every  shot  that  he  plays  ; 
and  it  is  quite  certain  that  if  a  man  should  satisfy 
himself  by  use  of  a  yard  measure  that  he  had  got 
his  feet  equidistant  from  the  ball  before  striking  at 
it,  his  shots,  owing  to  lack  of  spontaneity,  would  be 
feeble  and  inaccurate.  The  learner  need  not  be 
particular  to  an  inch  or  even  two.  Any  greater 
divergence  than  this  from  the  normal,  in  the  distance 
of  the  two  feet  from  the  ball,  is  a  source  of  danger. 
Granted  that  several  men  play  extremely  well  from  a 
stance  which  looks  as  if  it  had  been  originally  arbitrary 
rather  than  methodical ;  granted,  further,  that  two  or 
three  of  these  men  are  peculiarly  capable  of  adapting 
then*  stance  to  the  inequalities  of  undulating  or 
hummocky  ground ;  it  by  no  means  follows  that 
their  example  can  safely  be  followed  by  normal 
creatures.  My  experience  as  an  educationalist  leads 
me  to  believe  that  a  scientific  lecture  can  sometimes 
be  made  to  produce  satisfactory  practical  results  to 


10  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

the  learner,  if  it  be  summarised  in  a  rule  of  thumb. 
Therefore  I  suggest  to  the  incipient  golfer  that  he 
train  himself  to  place  his  feet  equidistant  from  the 
ball,  and  to  poise  his  weight  so  that  each  of  his  two 
legs  makes  the  same  angle  with  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  which  for  purposes  of  this  rule  is  presumed  to 
be  dead  flat.  He  will  be  told  in  subsequent  chapters 
how  to  make  his  arrangements  for  '  hanging  '  and 
*  cocked-up '  balls.  Discussion  of  accidental  diffi- 
culties is  out  of  place  in  a  broad  dissertation  on 
'  Method.' 

There  is  another  point  to  be  dealt  with  before  we 
come  to  considering  how  the  club  is  to  be  lifted  from 
and  brought  back  to  the  ball.  It  is  the  position  of  the 
shoulders  during  the  preliminary  address.  Let  me 
recapitulate  what  has  already  been  said  :  repetition 
is  often  helpful.  The  player  is  to  regard  his  left  arm 
as  part  of  his  club  shaft,  and  his  grip  as  the  attach- 
ment splicing  one  part  of  the  shaft  to  the  other ;  he 
is  to  stand  with  his  feet  practically  equidistant  from 
the  ball,  and  his  legs  at  practically  the  same  angle  to 
the  ground.  Now,  the  normal  man's  arms  are,  like  his 
legs,  of  equal  length.  When  he  golfs  he  has  to  treat 
his  left  arm  as  so  much  club  shaft.  It  is  obvious 
that  in  a  great  majority  of  cases  that  left  arm  will  be 
kept  straight,  or  so  nearly  straight  as  makes  no  matter. 
It  follows  that  in  order  to  place  his  right  hand  below 
the  left  on  the  handle  of  the  club,  the  normally  built 
man  must  depress  his  right  shoulder  appreciably.  A 
simple  experiment  will  show  him  well  enough  the 
amount  of  depression  which  is  proper.  Let  him  take 


HOW  TO  LEARN  11 

hold  of  his  club  with  the  left  hand  only  ;    let  him 
stand  upright  and  keep  his  left  arm  rigidly  straight ; 
then  let  him  slowly  put  his  right  hand  on  the  handle 
below  the  left  without  stooping  forward  or  shortening 
his  left  arm  by  bending  it  or  by  any  other  trick.     He 
will  find  that  his  right  shoulder  must  go  down  anything 
from  four  to  six  inches  below  the  left.    At  first,  when 
he  addresses  the  ball,  he  will  very  likely  feel  as  if  he 
could  not  hit  as  hard  as  his  physique  justifies  him 
in  expecting  to  hit.     By  raising  the  right  shoulder  he 
gains  an  added  sense  of  power.     But  what  we  want  is 
not  a  feeling  of  power  during  the  address,  but  tangible 
evidence  of  its  presence  at  the  moment  of  impact.   An 
ounce  of  fact  is  proverbially  worth  a  pound  of  theory, 
and  fact  is  particularly  valuable  when  it  supports 
theory,  as  it  does  in  this  case.     One  of  the  differences 
between  amateur  and  professional  golf  is  that  the 
professionals,  when    addressing  the    ball,    keep  their 
right  shoulders  appreciably  lower  than  the  amateurs. 
Braid,  Taylor,  and  Vardon,  though  they  possess  this 
as  every  other  golfing  virtue  highly  developed,  are  not 
thereby   singled   out   from   other   members   of   their 
profession.    Mr.  Ball  and  Mr.  Maxwell  are  conspicuous 
among  amateurs  for  their  depressed  right  shoulders. 
I  have  admitted  above  that  the  adoption  of  the  position 
may    cause    a    sensation    of    comparative    feebleness 
during  the  address.     I  will  now  try  to  prove  that  the 
feeling  is  illusory,  and  that  full  power  is  exercised  in 
the   hitting.      In    the    first   place,    the   five    golfers 
mentioned    are    all    notably    long    drivers.     On    the 
whole,  it  is  true  to  say  that  they  attain  length  without 


12  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

appearing  to  strain  after  it ;  their  strokes,  though 
full  of  vigour,  are  yet  restrained  and  compact.  There 
is  every  reason  why  this  should  be  so.  The  depres- 
sion of  the  right  shoulder  enables  them  to  grip  tight 
with  both  hands,  at  least  while  the  club  is  approaching 
the  end  of  its  downward  journey.  Even  in  the  days 
of  my  novitiate  I  felt  there  must  be  something  wrong 
about  the  old  maxim,  '  Tight  with  the  left  hand,  loose 
with  the  right.'  Now  I  am  sure.  It  is  seldom  wise 
to  argue  from  the  analogy  of  other  games  to  golf, 
'  the  peculiar  pastime  of  a  peculiar  people,'  but  in 
this  connection  analogic  method  of  proof  is  sound. 
In  all  ball-games  except  lawn-tennis,  force  and  nip 
are  put  into  hitting  by  the  introduction  of  the  action 
employed  by  a  good  cover-point  when  he  throws  in 
underhand  to  the  stumps.  Give  a  rackets-player  a 
balk  a  la  main,  and  down  goes  his  right  shoulder  as 
he  throws  his  racket  underhand  at  it.  The  cricketer 
does  the  same  things  when  he  drives  a  half-volley 
straight  for  four.  There  is  no  need  to  multiply 
instances  ;  it  is  sufficient  to  ask  why  a  golfer  should  be 
deprived  of  a  privilege  freely  accorded  to  the  rest  of 
sane  humanity.  Many  readers  will  recall  countless 
occasions  on  which  they  have  heard  disappointed 
players  account  for  a  missed  shot  by  saying, '  I  dropped 
my  right  shoulder  at  it.'  I  confess  that  I  do  not 
know  precisely  what  this  error  of  style  is,  unless  it  be 
a  lifting  of  the  trunk  simultaneously  with  the  club 
and  a  subsequent  lurching  of  the  weight  on  to  the  ball. 
This  is  an  action  very  different  from  that  which  I 
have  endeavoured  to  describe.  But  the  frequent  use 


HOW  TO  LEARN  13 

of  the  phrase  '  dropping  the  right  shoulder  '  frightens 
many  off  imitating  Braid,  Vardon,  Mr.  Blackwell, 
and  a  host  of  other  fine  drivers  who  all  depress  the 
right  shoulder  when  addressing  the  ball,  and  hit  by 
throwing  the  club  underhand  at  its  mark.  There  is 
some  danger  that  he  who  tries  to  acquire  the  recom- 
mended action  of  right-hand  arm  and  shoulder  will  at 
first  overdo  it.  He  must  be  warned  against  allowing 
his  right  hand  to  master  the  left.  In  the  golfing 
stroke  hit  is  subservient  to  swing.  So  far  as  either 
hand  or  arm  is  concerned  in  the  production  of  swing, 
it  is  the  left.  When  the  right  hand  introduces  the 
element  of  hit  or  '  throw  ' — call  it  which  you  please — 
it  must  be  kept  under  such  restraint  as  will  prevent 
it  from  causing  the  left  wrist  to  be  bent  at  the  moment 
of  impact.  When  that  happens  the  club  head  is  not 
presented  square  to  the  ball,  and  a  miss  of  one  kind  or 
another  ensues.  It  has  been  stated  above  that  the 
left  arm  must  be  regarded  as  part  of  the  club  shaft. 
The  right  hand  must  not  bend  it  any  more  than  it 
can  be  allowed  to  bend  or  break  the  hickory  stick. 

Having  arrived  at  a  definition  of  *  hit,'  we  may 
with  propriety  try  to  discover  the  exact  meaning  of 
the  term  swing.  In  the  last  paragraph  it  was  said 
that,  so  far  as  either  hand  produces  swing,  the  left 
does  the  work.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  the  turn  of 
the  body  which  swings  the  club.  We  may  conveniently 
visualise  the  path  of  the  club  head  through  the  air  as 
the  arc  of  a  perfect  circle,  although  it  is  really  an 
ellipse.  The  centre  of  that  circle  is  the  player's 
backbone,  and  the  length  of  its  arc  is  properly  esti- 


14  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

mated  by  the  amount  of  body-turn,  not  by  the  extent 
of  the  club  head's  backward  journey.  It  is  popularly 
supposed  that  Mr.  Maxwell's  swing  is  very  short. 
A  careful  examination  of  his  photographs  shows  that 
it  is  quite  full.  True,  the  club  head  rarely  is  lifted 
back  higher  than  his  right  shoulder,  and  his  hands  are 
seldom  above  the  level  of  his  waist.  But  the  body- 
turn  is  quite  complete.  His  shoulders,  which  at  the 
time  of  his  address  were  parallel,  or  practically  parallel, 
to  the  proposed  line  of  his  ball's  flight,  are,  when  he 
is  at  the  top  of  his  back  swing,  at  right  angles  to  that 
line.  It  will  be  of  great  assistance  to  the  beginner 
if  he  can  realise  what  his  instructor  means  when  he 
talks  about  swing.  Few  golfers  have  never  felt  the 
desire  to  drive  with  a  full  swing  ;  many  have  been  led 
by  that  desire  to  take  their  clubs  back  further  than  is 
at  all  necessary,  to  the  great  detriment  of  their  play. 
Within  limits  it  is  true  to  say  that  the  less  distance 
the  club  head  is  withdrawn  from  the  ball  the  better 
the  results.  The  limits  alluded  to  are  set  by  two 
facts  :  one  is  that  the  swing  should  be  full,  the  other 
that  the  right  arm  must  have  sufficient  space  in 
which  to  do  its  special  work,  the  '  hitting.'  A  power- 
ful but  stiffly  built  man  like  Mr.  Maxwell  can  get  the 
desired  effect,  and  yet  curtail  the  arc  described  in  the 
air  by  his  club-head.  Less  muscular  and  more  supple 
individuals  require  more  room  for  their  manoeuvres. 
Every  man  must  discover  for  himself  by  experiment 
the  length  of  backward  arc  most  suitable  for  his 
peculiar  physical  conformation.  It  will  aid  him  to 
arrive  quickly  at  the  required  knowledge  if  hs  learns 


HOW  TO  LEARN  16 

from  the  start  to  measure  length  of  swing  by  the 
amount  of  pivoting  round  his  backbone  done  by  his 
shoulders  and  loins,  and  by  nothing  else.  Roughly 
speaking,  the  stronger  a  man's  forearm  the  less  the 
space  which  he  requires  for  dealing  an  effective  blow, 
and  the  shorter  the  distance  which  he  need  withdraw 
his  club  from  the  ball.  The  truth  of  this  is  made  more 
apparent  by  cricketers  than  by  golfers  ;  the  former 
hit  the  more  naturally  of  the  two  and  are  the  less 
disposed  to  aim  at  a  style  rather  than  the  ball.  Mr. 
Ernest  Smith  and  Mr.  B.  J.  T.  Bosanquet,  each  of 
them  conspicuous  among  the  hard  hitters  of  their 
contemporaries,  seldom  lifted  their  bats  shoulder  high 
even  when  making  their  biggest  drives.  Major  H.  S. 
Bush,  a  man  of  much  lighter  and  more  wiry  build, 
takes  his  up  to  the  level  of  his  right  ear,  and  sends 
the  ball  equally  far  and  high.  The  explanation  of 
the  difference  between  the  two  styles  is  obvious.  The 
last-named  batsman  requires  more  space  for  the  full 
development  of  the  hitting  action — the  underhanded 
throw — than  the  other  two.  The  essential  method  of 
all  three  is  the  same. 

The  purpose  of  this  chapter  being  to  provide  a  basis 
of  theory  on  which  professional  teachers,  and  the  other 
eminent  authorities  who  discourse  in  subsequent 
chapters  of  this  book  about  the  various  golfing  shots, 
can  build  an  abiding  edifice,  I  should  be  encroaching 
on  their  domain  if  I  were  to  deal  particularly  with 
the  different  clubs,  their  use  and  abuse.  Yet  I  have 
not  quite  reached  my  conclusion.  So  far  I  have 
endeavoured  to  set  down  the  minimum  of  general 


16  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

knowledge  required  by  a  learner  before  he  can  extract 
the  maximum  of  profit  from  technical  instruction. 
It  remains  to  decline  from  theory  to  practice  and 
state  what  is  in  my  opinion  the  best,  or  rather  the 
only  proper  way  for  a  would-be  golfer  to  organise  his 
education.  To  those  whom  I  most  desire  to  serve  my 
remarks  will  seem  to  be  uttered  by  the  voice  of  one 
crying  in  the  wilderness.  They  will  not  read  this  or 
any  other  book  about  golf  until  they  have  been  some 
weeks  at  the  game,  and  have  possibly  contracted  bad 
habits  which  they  will  find  difficult  of  eradication. 
Herodotus  once  said  that  the  worst  pain  which  the 
human  mind  can  suffer  is  to  have  foreknowledge  of 
many  things  combined  with  inability  to  influence 
anybody.  I  face  the  prospect  of  suffering  that  awful 
agony  because  there  is  a  reasonable  chance  that 
professional  coaches  will  read  what  is  printed  below 
and  adopt,  at  least  in  part,  the  educational  methods 
there  recommended.  They  have  to  contend  with 
the  fact  that  the  embryonic  golfer  wants  to  run  before 
he  can  walk  ;  and,  so  far  as  my  experience  goes,  many 
of  them  encourage  him  in  his  error  by  letting  him 
begin  straight  off  with  a  wooden  club.  It  is  not  very 
surprising  that  a  professional  should  put  first  into  the 
hands  of  a  raw  pupil  the  club  with  which  he  himself 
commonly  commences  his  daily  round.  But  it  would 
be  much  better  for  the  pupil  if  he  would  refuse  to 
gratify  his  almost  irresistible  desire  to  drive  balls  as 
far  as  possible,  until  he  has  to  some  extent  mastered 
what  for  lack  of  a  better  name  I  will  call  the 
*  Fundamental  Shot.'  This  is  nothing  more  nor  less 


HOW  TO  LEARN  17 

than  a  long  putt  played  as  stiffly  as  is  compatible 
with  some  freedom  of  hitting.  The  distance  which 
the  ball  goes  will  vary  according  to  the  club  used ; 
a  cleek  may  send  it  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  on 
hard  flat  turf,  a  mashie  no  more  than  sixty  or  seventy. 
The  wisest  golfer  of  my  acquaintance,  when  he  finds 
himself  off  his  driving,  invariably  confines  his  practice, 
if  he  can  so  far  overcome  his  constitutional  laziness 
as  to  go  out  and  indulge  in  solitary  practice,  to 
repeated  execution  of  this  Fundamental  Shot  with 
his  play -club.  One  of  the  most  difficult  tasks  which 
a  man  can  set  himself  is  the  description  of  a  particular 
stroke  in  any  game.  One  may  say,  with  some  hope 
of  conveying  his  meaning  clearly  to  the  mind  of 
another,  how  he  himself  executes  the  necessary  motions, 
and  it  is  possible  to  enumerate  precisely  the  ideals 
aimed  at.  But  ultimately  the  value  of  every  lesson 
must  depend  on  its  apperception  in  the  mind  of  the 
pupil. 

I  once  started  a  beginner  at  golf  in  the  way  which 
I  here  recommend,  and  I  think  I  shall  best  serve  the 
purpose  which  I  have  in  view  by  describing  our 
procedure  in  detail.  Our  first  object  was  to  learn  the 
proper  action  of  the  left  hand  and  arm.  I  made  my 
pupil  take  hold  of  a  club  with  his  left  hand  only.  He 
had  previously  been  handling  it  with  the  air  of  one 
anxious  to  hit.  When  he  was  obliged  to  take  his 
right  hand  off  the  leather,  a  difference  in  the  grip  of 
the  left  at  once  showed  itself.  Previously  the  fingers 
had  been  too  far  under  the  shaft ;  when  the  left  hand 
was  made  to  act  by  itself  it  came  naturally  to  the 

B 


18  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

proper  position,  so  that  the  finger-tips  were  not  visible 
to  the  striker's  eye.  The  moral  of  this  having  been 
pointed  out,  he  was  told  to  take  his  club  back  slowly 
by  wrist  action  only.  He  immediately  bent  his  wrist 
instead  of  turning  it.  He  was  duly  penitent  when  it 
was  pointed  out  to  him  that  he  had  broken  his  club- 
shaft.  His  error  was  easily  remedied.  First  he  was 
made  to  drop  his  hand  a  trifle,  thus  diminishing  the 
angles  made  by  his  club  with  the  ground  and  with  his 
left  arm  :  when  left  to  himself  he  had  got  arm  and 
club  almost  in  a  straight  line.  This  change  in  their 
relative  position  enabled  him  to  '  support,  the  head  of 
his  club/  as  the  tennis-player  is  taught  by  the  marker 
to  support  the  head  of  his  racquet.  It  then  came 
naturally  to  him  to  turn  his  hand  so  that  the  further 
the  motion  was  continued  the  more  the  back  of  it 
came  into  his  view.  At  the  start  of  the  movement 
the  toe  of  his  club  swung  away  from  the  ball  and 
inwards,  and  on  its  completion,  when  the  shaft  was 
parallel  to  the  ground,  the  toe  was  pointing  straight 
up  to  the  ceiling  :  this  preliminary  lesson  was  given 
indoors.  The  movement  was  repeated  until  the 
sensation  of  its  correct  performance  was  familiar  to 
the  pupil.  He  was  then  permitted  to  place  his  right 
hand  on  the  handle  of  the  club.  When  he  now  tried 
to  take  his  club  back,  the  original  error  of  wrist-bending 
showed  a  tendency  to  reappear,  because  the  right 
hand  wanted  to  do  too  much  of  the  work.  It  was 
reduced  to  order  promptly  by  being  made  to  hold 
so  lightly  that  the  club  handle,  when  lifted,  fell  back 
against  the  web  at  the  base  of  the  right  thumb. 


HOW  TO  LEARN  19 

Having  arrived  at  an  idea  of  the  proper  way  to  begin 
the  back  lift  of  the  club,  a  process  which  required  less 
time  than  is  necessary  to  write  a  description  of  it, 
we  went  out  to  the  course.    There  the  learner  was 
provided  with  an  ordinary  mid-iron,  with  which  he 
was  asked  to  hit  teed  balls  at  a  mark  placed  less  than 
a  hundred  yards  away.    To  do  this  he  had  merely  to 
pass  his  club  to  and  fro  without  using  all  his  power 
of  muscle.    In  a  very  short  time  he  learnt  to  keep 
his  left  arm  straight,  to  turn  his  left  wrist  properly, 
to  hit  through  the  ball  and  not  at  it.     I  cannot  say 
that  all  his  shots  were  good ;    many  were  topped, 
others  went  crooked.     But  he  never  perpetrated  the 
complete  and  disgruntling  miss,  and  from  the  very 
start  he  began  to  develop  a  satisfactory  follow-through. 
For  a  couple  of  days  he  confined  himself  to  practising 
this  Fundamental  Shot,  using  different  clubs,  but  never 
attempting  a  full  stroke  with  any  of  them.    It  was  a 
week  before  he  played  a  round,  though  he  watched 
a  certain   number  of  matches  being  contested.    In 
considerably  less  than  a  year  his  handicap  was  below 
ten,  and  I  hold  that  his  rapid  progress  in  proficiency 
was  due  to  the  excellence  of  his  start. 

It  will,  I  hope,  be  already  apparent  what  this 
Fundamental  Shot  is.  It  might  be  called  a  Half -shot, 
seeing  that  it  is  played  almost  entirely  with  the  arms  ; 
body-turn  hardly  enters  into  it  at  all.  It  constitutes 
the  whole  of  a  short  pitch-and-run  approach,  and 
forms  the  essential  beginning  of  every  longer  stroke. 
Let  us  suppose  that  it  is  desired  to  play  a  ball  by  the 
Fundamental  Shot  to  a  point  due  north.  First  the 


20  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

left  hand  and  wrist  turn  the  club  head  in  a  south- 
westerly direction,  at  the  same  time  gradually  lifting 
it  until  it  is  a  little  higher  than  the  player's  knee. 
The  toe  of  the  club  is  then  pointing  straight  up  to 
the  sky.  The  back  lift  is  completed  not  by  bending 
wrist  or  elbow,  but  by  allowing  the  left  arm  to  pass  in 
front  of  the  chest,  until  a  feeling  of  strain  on  the  left 
shoulder  joint  gives  warning  that  the  limit  of  south- 
westerly movement  has  been  reached.  The  player's 
hands  will  now  be  about  on  a  level  with  his  waist, 
his  club  head  with  his  right  ear.  I  have  a  strong 
belief,  amounting  almost  to  conviction,  that  the 
triceps  muscle  of  the  left  arm  does  most  of  the  work 
during  the  second  half  of  the  back  lift.  It  also  starts 
the  downward  motion  of  the  club  by  pulling  it  back 
towards  the  ball.  This  downward  motion  is  con- 
tinued by  the  re-turn  of  the  wrists,  especially  the  left, 
to  their  original  position.  If  these  motions  are 
correctly  executed  the  face  of  the  club  will  be  presented 
fair  and  square  to  the  ball,  as  it  was  when  it '  addressed ' 
it.  It  is  of  the  first  importance  that  at  the  moment 
when  club  head  impinges  on  ball  the  left  wrist  should 
be  taut  almost  to  rigidity.  The  club  head  will  then 
be  dragged  through  the  ball  by  the  triceps  muscle  of 
the  left  arm,  the  right  assisting  by  the  thrust  of  its 
underhand  throw,  and  will  follow  on  smoothly  until 
its  momentum  has  exhausted  itself.  It  is  impossible 
to  say  where  it  will  finish,  for  Finish  is  a  thing  entirely 
different  from  Follow  -  through.  Follow  -  through  is 
the  natural  consequence  of  a  correctly  executed  stroke  ; 
Finish  is  the  device  adopted  by  the  individual  player 


HOW  TO  LEARN  21 

to  relieve  the  muscles  of  hand  and  arm  at.  the  end  of 
his  follow- through.  Vardon  seems  to  relax  his  grip 
at  this  moment  and  to  let  his  club  drop  gracefully 
on  to  his  left  shoulder.  Taylor  pulls  his  hand  back 
to  his  left  thigh.  Mr.  John  Ball's  wiry  wrists  some- 
times make  his  club  describe  a  '  pig-tail '  in  the  air 
when  a  specially  vigorous  drive  has  caused  a  more 
than  usually  forceful  follow  -  through.  Even  the 
follow- through  itself  may  be  curtailed  by  circumstances. 
When  Vardon  executes  the  so-called  '  Push-shot ' 
with  cleek  or  iron,  his  club  head  often  stops  within 
two  or  three  feet  of  the  spot  from  which  it  has 
removed  the  ball.  This  is  because  after  striking  the 
ball  it  went  on  into  the  ground,  which  acts  as  a  shock- 
absorber,  and  immediately  relieves  his  wrists  of  strain. 
The  follow-through  is  complete,  but  finish  is  lacking 
because  there  is  no  need  for  it. 

Here  I  permit  myself  to  digress,  because  the 
ludicrously  wrong  ideas  about  '  Vardon 's  Push-shot ' 
held  by  many  persons  aptly  illustrate  an  important 
point  in  this  chapter,  videlicet  that  the  general 
acceptance  of  inaccurate  terminology  handicaps  edu- 
cationalists terribly  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties. 
This  particular  stroke  has  no  share  in  the  nature  of  a 
Push,  and  it  was  used  for  the  treatment  of  bad-lying 
balls  by  many  players  before  Vardon  appeared  to 
impress  the  imagination  of  the  golfing  world.  When 
he  lays  a  ball  dead  with  his  cleek  from  a  distance 
slightly  less  than  two  hundred  yards,  incidentally 
cutting  a  fid  of  turf  from  the  ground  just  in  front  of 
where  his  ball  lay,  and  stands  there  poised  in  an 


22  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

attitude  of  easy  grace,  his  club  checked  maybe  a  yard 
in  front  of  him,  he  pulled  rather  than  pushed  the 
cleek  head  down  on  to  the  ball.  It  was  the  left 
triceps,  not  the  right  biceps,  which  did  the  trick,  and 
at  the  moment  of  impact  his  hands  were  in  front  of 
the  ball  rather  than  behind  it.  He  has  himself  told 
us  that  he  keeps  his  hands  in  advance  of  the  ball, 
and  the  camera  shows  that  he  speaks  truth.  Now 
nobody  can  push  an  object  forward  unless  he  gets 
behind  it.  But  some  of  Vardon's  would-be  imitators 
make  a  sad  mess  of  their  long  iron-shots,  because  they 
have  an  idea  that  they  must  in  some  way  *  push  '  the 
reluctant  ball  towards  the  hole.  They  will  very 
probably  find  illumination  in  the  statement  that  the 
club  head  must  be  pulled  on  to  the  ball  with  the  left 
arm,  the  underhand  throw  of  the  right  coming  in  at 
the  last  moment  to  supplement,  but  not  to  supersede, 
the  pace  imparted  to  it  by  the  left.  This  seems  to 
me  to  be  merely  another  way  of  stating  Vardon's 
printed  explanation  of  his  method. 

To  return  for  a  moment  to  the  '  Fundamental  Shot.' 
I  claim  for  it  as  a  medium  of  education,  that  as  com- 
pared with  the  Full  Drive,  which  most  commonly 
forms  the  subject  of  the  earliest  lessons  given  to  a 
beginner,  it  is  easy  to  explain  and  easy  to  demonstrate  ; 
that  a  persistent  and  prolonged  attempt  to  master  it 
makes  a  man  detect  unity  in  the  manner  of  making 
all  strokes  from  short  approach  to  full  drive  ;  that  the 
absence  of  violent  exertion  prevents  the  intrusion  of 
errors  in  hitting,  which  are  difficult  of  detection  by 
teacher  or  pupil ;  that  it  leads  to  a  grasp  of  the 


HOW  TO  LEARN  23 

essentials  of  method,  which  will  be  most  valuable  to 
the  young  player  when  he  has  developed  a  recog- 
nisable and  appraisable  c  game/  but  finds  himself 
temporarily  off  it :  he  can  put  himself  on  the  road  to 
recovery  by  beginning  again  at  the  beginning,  and 
he  has  a  definite  beginning  to  begin  with.  Finally, 
it  is  universal ;  everybody  who  is  anybody  at  golf 
plays  the  half -shot  with  an  iron  club  in  practically  the 
same  way,  and  the  half-shot  differs  only  in  degree 
from  longer  and  more  forceful  shots.  I  leave  it  for 
others  to  tell  how  the  more  complex  strokes  from 
Drive  to  Putt  should  be  accomplished.  My  sincere 
hope  is  that  those  who  have  given  careful  attention 
to  the  instruction  in  the  elements  hereinbefore  set 
out,  will  in  consequence  be  able  to  derive  the  fuller 
benefit  when  they  get  into  the  Sixth  Form,  and  are 
up  to  Mr.  Darwin,  James  Sherlock,  and  last — but 
who  in  all  courtesy  should  have  been  named  first — 
Mrs.  Ross,  better  known  to  golfing  fame  as  Miss 
May  Hezlet. 


PART  I 

ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 
BY  BERNARD  DARWIN 


PRELIMINARY  NOTE 

A  NUMBER  of  educational  works  have  been  written 
on  golf,  many  of  them  by  highly  distinguished  persons. 
On  certain  points  these  authorities  have  differed 
considerably,  and  I  have  thought  that  it  might  be 
interesting  to  bring  together  their  various  views  for  pur- 
poses of  comparison,  and  occasionally,  after  summing 
up,  to  pronounce,  for  what  it  is  worth,  a  diffident 
verdict  upon  their  differences.  These  controversial 
points  are,  however,  apt  to  be  abstruse,  and,  though 
I  hope  they  may  be  of  some  interest  to  mature  golfers, 
would  probably  confuse  the  mind  of  the  quite  ele- 
mentary student.  Therefore  I  have  tried  as  far 
as  possible  first  to  give  the  elementary  theory  of  a 
particular  stroke  more  or  less  dogmatically,  and  after- 
wards to  discuss  the  more  complicated  points,  on 
which  there  is  a  diversity  of  opinion.  This  can  be 
done  much  more  easily  with  some  strokes  than  with 
others.  The  right  and  wrong  ways  of  putting  are, 
for  instance,  so  much  matters  of  opinion  that  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  separate  elementary  dogmas 
from  violently  controversial  points.  I  am  therefore 
conscious  that  I  have  not  always  been  able  to  stick 

27 


28  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

as  closely  as  i  could  wish  to  the  scheme  I  marked  out 
for  myself.  I  think  it  is  best,  however,  to  give  this 
short  explanation  of  the  plan  on  which  I  worked  as 
far  as  I  could,  in  order  that  the  reader,  if  he  does 
not  find  a  particular  point  in  one  place,  may  curb  his 
indignation,  and  hope  to  find  it  in  another. 


CHAPTER  I 
DRIVING 

(a)  FIRST  PRINCIPLES  OF  THE  SWING 

THERE  are  two  rather  different  systems  on  which 
instruction  may  be  imparted  in  the  art  of  driving. 
In  one  the  victim  is  first  of  all  carefully  placed  in 
position  by  means  of  a  foot-rule,  while  an  exhaustive 
explanation  is  given  him  of  the  probably  fatal  effects 
of  adopting  any  of  some  six  other  courses.  Then, 
when  his  mental  and  bodily  faculties  have  become 
paralysed  by  terror  and  cramp  respectively,  he  is 
allowed,  as  an  afterthought,  to  swing  his  club.  In 
the  other,  as  little  attention  as  possible  is  for  the 
moment  paid  to  position,  but  the  teacher's  first  object 
is  that  his  pupil  should  learn  to  swing  the  club  back- 
wards and  forwards  in  a  reasonably  correct,  and  at 
the  same  time  comfortable  manner,  while  having  as 
few  things  as  possible  on  his  mind.  Then,  when  he 
has  attained  to  something  dimly  resembling  a  swing, 
the  question  of  attitude  is  gone  into  in  greater  detail. 
The  latter  seems  to  me  the  better  of  the  two,  and  for 
a  specific  reason.  Very  good  golfers  adopt  very 

Note. — The  pictures  illustrating  the  various  strokes,  positions,  etc., 
discussed  by  Mr.  Darwin,  are  from  photographs  of  Fred  Robson 
taken  in  actual  execution  of  each  stroke. — [ED.] 

29 


30  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

different  attitudes  before  striking  the  ball :  attitudes 
which  have  so  little  in  common  that  to  deduce  from 
them  any  hard-and-fast  general  law  that  shall  be  useful 
to  the  learner  is  almost  impossible.  There  must  always 
be  so  many  exceptions  to  any  rule  that  the  question 
resolves  itself  in  the  end  into  a  matter  of  opinion. 
On  the  other  hand,  as  regards  swinging  the  club, 
however  different  from  each  other  the  good  players 
may  look  to  our  fallible  eyes,  yet,  if  their  swings  be 
picked  to  pieces,  certain  things  will  be  found  in  the 
methods  of  one  and  all  of  them.  Those  things  there- 
fore would  appear  to  be  essentials,  and  by  all  means 
let  us  get  the  things  that  are  essential  drummed  into 
the  student's  head  as  soon  as  possible. 

Yet  at  the  very  outset  I  must  depart  from  the  plan 
that  I  have  proposed  for  myself  not  once  but  twice, 
in  order  to  deal  with  the  question  of  clubs  and  the 
method  of  holding  them.  In  order  to  get  to  the 
real  business,  however,  I  will,  at  the  present  moment 
at  any  rate,  be  as  brief  as  possible.  As  to  the  club, 
indeed  it  is  wise  at  this  stage  to  say  just  as  little  as 
may  be.  If  the  reader  is  not  in  the  absolutely 
elementary  stage,  he  will  already  have  got  a  wooden 
club  which  he  believes,  no  doubt  rightly,  to  be  the 
best  in  the  world ;  if  he  is  a  beginner,  he  had  better 
let  himself  be  guided  by  the  man  who  sells  him  the 
club,  unless  the  latter  appear  obviously  dishonest  or 
incompetent.  The  only  two  points  on  which  he  may 
venture  to  insist  are  that  the  club  should  not  be  too 
long,  and  that  it  should  be  reasonably  lofted  in  the  face. 

As  to  the  question  of  grip,  I  propose  to  leave  over 


DRIVING  31 

for  the  moment  the  much  debated  question  of  the 
overlapping  grip,  and  to  say  that  a  club  may  be 
grasped  in  any  way  a  man  pleases  subject  to  these 
three  provisoes  : 

1.  That  he  holds  his  hands  as  near  together  as  may 

be. 

2.  That  he  has  the  knuckles  of  his  left  hand  turned 

perceptibly  upward,  though  not  to  an  extent 
that  will  cramp  him. 

3.  That  he  do  not  imbed  the  handle  of  his  club  too 

deeply  in  the  palm  of  the  right  hand,  nor  hold 
it  with  that  hand  in  too  cast-iron  a  grip.  The 
left  thumb  may  do  what  it  pleases,  but  the 
right  thumb  will  be  better  round  the  handle 
of  the  club  than  straight  along  it. 

And  now  at  last  for  the  swing,  with  only  these  two 
further  words  of  caution  :  that  the  player  should 
stand  as  far  from  his  imaginary  ball  as  he  comfortably 
can,  that  his  feet  should  be  fairly  wide  apart,  and  that 
he  should  begin  by  making  himself  and  his  muscles 
feel  limp  and  '  floppy/  if  the  expression  be  permissible, 
rather  than  taut  and  rigid. 

The  point  of  the  last  piece  of  advice  is  just  this, 
that,  to  quote  from  the  Badminton  Library,  '  above 
everything  the  golfing  drive  is  a  swing  and  not  a  hit.' 
It  is  often  said  that  the  best  golfers  of  to-day  hit  much 
more  pronouncedly  than  did  their  predecessors,  and 
that  in  fact  the  golfing  stroke  is  really  a  hit  and  not 
a  swing.  I  will  not  pause  to  argue  the  proposition, 
which  may  after  all  merely  resolve  itself  into  a  question 


32  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

of  words  ;  if  there  is  truth  in  it,  it  is  an  improper 
truth  to  be  jealously  guarded  from  the  golfing  young 
person.  Whatever  the  best  word  to  describe  it,  a 
golf-ball  is  best  propelled  by  a  smooth  and  even 
motion  of  various  parts  of  the  player's  anatomy,  and 
if  the  beginner  imagines  himself  to  be  hitting,  he  will 
inevitably  brace  himself  for  an  effort,  tauten  his 
muscles,  and  deliver  a  blow  spasmodic,  jerky,  and 
uneven,  probably  accompanied  by  a  palpable  jump. 
So,  whatever  he  thinks,  he  must  clothe  himself  in  a 
panoply  of  faith,  '  the  quality  which  consists  in  believ- 
ing that  which  we  know  to  be  untrue/  and  believe 
with  his  whole  soul  that  he  is  to  sweep  away  the  ball, 
or  rather,  for  the  present,  the  head  of  a  daisy. 

So  armed,  he  may  take  an  easy  gentle  swing  or  two  ; 
then  at  the  third  swing  let  him  stop  in  the  middle — 
at  the  top  of  the  swing,  as  it  is  called — and  in  the 
words  of  the  Irish  drill-sergeant  '  step  out  here  and 
look  at  himself/  Two  tests  may  be  suggested  as  to 
whether  he  is  performing  the  action,  roughly  speaking, 
rightly  or  wrongly.  Let  him  observe,  firstly,  whether 
the  nose  of  his  club  is  pointing  straight  down  to  the 
ground ;  and,  secondly,  whether  his  left  wrist  is 
bent  inward  so  as  to  be  almost  directly  under  the 
shaft  of  his  club.  The  latter  point  needs  perhaps  a 
further  word  of  explanation.  The  learner  has  prob- 
ably noticed  at  one  time  or  another  that  common,' 
and  often  charming  phenomenon,  the  bad,  female 
lawn-tennis  player ;  he  will  have  seen  her  method  of 
playing  a  back-hand  shot  with  the  wrist  bent  outward 
in  the  direction  in  which  the  ball  is  supposed  by 


DRIVING  33 

courtesy  to  be  about  to  travel.  The  golfer's  wrist  at 
the  top  of  his  swing  should  be  just  as  unlike  that  lady's 
wrist  as  it  is  possible  for  one  thing  to  be  unlike 
another. 

Now,  it  may  turn  out  that  he  finds  that  in  both 
instances  he  is  doing  the  right  and  not  the  wrong 
thing  ;  if  that  is  so,  he  is  very  lucky,  and  has  avoided 
one  considerable  difficulty  by  the  light  of  nature. 
But  it  is  much  more  probable  that  his  wrist  is  turned 
rather  outwards  than  inwards,  and  that  the  nose  of 
his  club  is  pointed  rather  to  heaven  than  earth.  One 
of  these  mistakes  depends  on  the  other,  and  both 
proceed  from  a  very  pardonable  misconception  of  the 
player's  duty.  He  properly  begins  the  proceedings 
by  having  the  club  face  turned  in  the  direction  in 
which  he  proposes  to  drive,  with  the  centre  of  the 
face  opposite  the  ball,  and  it  is  quite  natural  to  imagine 
that  this  attitude  of  the  club  head  towards  the  ball 
should  be  maintained  throughout  the  swing.  There- 
fore with  much  pains  and  labour  he  takes  the  club 
back,  the  face  being  still  religiously  turned  in  the 
direction  of  the  ball's  proposed  flight.  Now  this  idea 
is,  as  has  been  said,  very  natural ;  it  may  even  be 
praiseworthy ;  but  it  has  one  serious  defect  in  that 
it  is  shown  by  experience  to  be  hopelessly,  fatally 
wrong.  The  mind  must  at  the  outset  be  disabused 
of  the  idea  that  the  club  is  to  keep  its  face  turned 
faithfully  towards  the  ball ;  on  the  contrary,  the  up 
swing  is  to  be  a  process  of  turning  the  face  gradually 
away  from  the  ball,  and  the  down  swing  a  process  of 
turning  it  gradually  towards  it  again.  And  since  the 


34  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

club  face  is  moved  by  means  of  the  hands  and  wrists, 
it  follows  that  these  two  have  also  to  turn  away  from 
the  ball  in  the  upward  swing. 

This  appears  a  positively  unnatural  doctrine,  but 
it  is  not  really  so  outrageous  as  it  sounds.  I  once 
tried  to  explain  it  in  a  small  elementary  treatise  by 
reference  to  a  one-handed  stroke,  and  I  venture  to 
think  that  this  is  as  illuminating  a  method  as  any 
other.  Let  the  player  take  his  club  in  his  left  hand, 
and  having  fixed  on  the  daisy  or  dandelion  that  is  to 
be  his  victim,  imagine  himself  to  be  playing  a  back- 
hand shot  at  it  as  he  would  at  lawn- tennis.  Since 
nearly  every  one  has  played  lawn-tennis  or  some 
other  game  involving  a  racket,  this  will  be  a  natural 
movement,  and  he  will  go  through  it  more  or  less 
instinctively.  Let  him  go  through  the  performance 
quite  slowly  and  keep  a  watchful  eye  on  his  hand  and 
wrist  and  on  the  head  of  the  club,  to  see  what  they 
are  doing.  He  will  see  that  the  club  head  does  not 
for  more  than  a  very  few  inches  of  its  progress  remain 
facing  in  the  direction  in  which  he  proposes  to  hit. 
No,  it  turns  away  from  the  line  of  flight  and  inwards, 
towards  the  player's  body,  while  the  hand  and  wrist 
are  similarly  turning  over  and  inwards.  Continue  the 
movement  a  little  further,  and  the  face  of  the  club  is 
almost  looking  up  to  heaven.  Continue  it  a  little 
further  still  till  the  club  has  reached  a  horizontal 
position  over  the  player's  neck  :  the  nose  of  the  club 
will  be  found  pointing  straight  down  to  the  ground 
and  the  wrist  will  be  bent  inwards  right  under  the 
shaft  of  the  club  ;  the  two  latter  phenomena,  as  I 


•  —  .••  :••:% 


L 


ONE-HANDED  EXERCISE 


[To  face  p.  34 


DRIVING  35 

said  before,  being  essential  to  a  true  swing.  However, 
to  take  the  club  right  round  the  neck  with  one  hand 
is  hard  work,  and  is  not,  moreover,  really  necessary. 
It  is  quite  sufficient,  with  this  back-hand  shot,  to  take 
it  back  quite  a  short  distance,  because  the  essential 
thing  is  to  get  the  club  to  start  its  career  correctly  ; 
once  comfortably  started  it  will  not  be  likely  to  err 
very  grievously. 

I  have  a  firm  belief  in  this  short  back-hand  swing 
with  the  left  hand  as  a  method  of  starting  the  club 
back  properly,  and  it  should  be  practised  and  persevered 
with  for  a  little  while,  till  the  player  feels  quite  com- 
fortable with  it.  Then  the  strong  right  hand,  which 
has  no  doubt  been  itching  to  plunge  into  the  fray, 
may  be  allowed  to  join  the  left  in  holding  the  club. 
The  immediate  result  will  probably  be  a  thorough 
dislocation  of  the  swing,  for  the  right  hand  does  not 
like  being  ordered  about  by  the  left,  and  is  apt  to  rebel 
at  first  against  that  turning-over  movement  of  the  club. 
So,  although  it  will  ultimately  be  allowed  to  hold 
tight  and  do  plenty  of  work,  the  right  hand  had 
better  at  first  hold  rather  loosely  and  be  thoroughly 
subordinated  to  the  left.  Although  he  has  now  got 
two  hands,  the  player  should  still  as  far  as  possible 
imagine  himself  with  only  one,  and  drone  away  to 
himself  '  a  back-hand  stroke  with  the  left  hand.1 
The  two  warring  hands  will  gradually  make  friends 
and  work  together  more  or  less  harmoniously. 

When  he  has  in  some  degree  mastered  this 
elementary  movement,  the  player  should  try  by 
degrees  to  make  it  gradually  a  bigger  and  bolder  one, 


36  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

taking  the  club  back  further  and  more  freely,  and 
with  the  arms  not  too  closely  tucked  in  to  his  body. 
As  soon  as  he  does  this  he  will  very  clearly  feel  the 
necessity  for  his  body  and  legs  to  join  in  the  fun, 
since,  if  they  do  not,  there  inevitably  comes  a  hitch 
when  no  further  backward  movement  of  the  club  is 
possible.  The  great  thing  to  remember  about  the 
body  and  legs  is  that  they  must  always  know  their 
place,  which  is  a  subsidiary  one  ;  they  must  never 
start  a  movement  on  their  own  account,  but  must  only 
move  at  the  moment  when  the  arms  and  wrists, 
having  taken  the  lead,  can  get  no  further  without 
them.  His  own  sensations  will  tell  the  player  when 
that  moment  has  come,  and  he  is  not  to  antici- 
pate it. 

Moreover,  when  the  body  is  allowed  to  move,  its 
owner  must  be  very  careful  only  to  let  it  move  in  one 
particular  way.  He  must  not  move  it  from  left  to 
right  with  a  hazy,  if  magnificent,  idea  of  gathering 
all  his  weight  together  on  the  right  foot  for  a  plunge 
at  the  ball.  That  is  called  swaying,  and  is  one  of 
the  seven  deadly  sins.  Nor  must  he  move  it  upwards 
like  the  hero  in  a  novel  who,  at  some  terrific  moment, 
i  draws  himself  up  to  his  full  height,'  as  a  preliminary 
towards  making  a  '  supreme  effort.'  The  head  must 
be  kept  absolutely  and  rigidly  still,  and  there  must 
be  none  of  this  upward  jump.  The  body  must  move 
only  round  its  own  axis.  Behind  the  player's  waist- 
coat buttons  runs  an  imaginary  line,  and  round  that 
line,  as  an  axis,  the  body  should  turn  freely,  but  the 
axis  itself  must  not  budge,  and  the  best  way  to  keep 


DRIVING :  TOP  OF  SWING 


(To  face  p.  87 


DRIVING  37 

the  axis  steady  is  to  keep  the  head  absolutely  and 
ferociously  still. 

If  the  head  and  the  imaginary  axis  behave  them- 
selves, there  is  nothing  desperately  difficult  about  the 
body  movement ;  nothing,  indeed,  comparable  in 
difficulty  with  the  initial  task  of  keeping  the  head  still. 
If  the  club  goes  back  properly,  the  left  shoulder  will 
be  found  to  be  coming  gradually  round  and  downwards 
towards  the  ball,  while  the  right  shoulder  goes  gradu- 
ally upward  and  away  from  the  ball.  But  the  left 
shoulder  cannot  move  very  far  round  if  the  left  foot 
is  kept  rigidly  fixed,  and  so  the  turning  movement  is 
communicated  to  the  left  knee  and  left  foot.  Two 
things  are  particularly  important  as  regards  this 
left  foot.  First,  it  has  to  occupy  a  completely  sub- 
ordinate position  and  ought  hardly  to  move  before  it 
is  literally  torn  from  its  place  by  the  turn  of  the  body. 
Secondly,  when  the  turn  of  the  foot  is  made,  it  is  to 
be  made  on  the  inside  of  the  foot  and  not  on  the  tip 
of  the  toe.  To  pirouette  on  the  extreme  toe  almost 
inevitably  upsets  the  balance  of  the  body,  and  is  a 
perfectly  spurious  and  unnecessary  movement,  coming 
under  the  head  of  what  has  been  called  '  false 
encouragement '  to  the  swing. 

Now,  if  all  these  various  parts  of  the  body  have 
performed  their  functions  properly,  the  player  will 
find  himself  poised  at  the  top  of  his  swing  and  looking 
at  the  ball  from  a  point  just  to  the  right  of  his  left 
shoulder.  His  hands  should  be  just  above  the  level 
of  the  right  shoulder,  and  the  club  well  clear  of  the 
shoulder.  This  is  what  ought  to  have  happened, 


38  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

but  since  it  is  quite  possible  that  it  has  not,  it  is  worth 
while  suggesting  one  or  two  errors  that,  in  spite  of  all 
precautions,  may  have  crept  into  the  upward  swing. 
It  may  be  that  the  club,  instead  of  being  over  the 
shoulder,  is  over  the  head,  while  the  right  elbow, 
instead  of  being  kept  low  and  fairly  close  to  the  side, 
as  it  ought  to  be,  is  high  in  the  air.  In  that  case  it 
is  probable  that  the  right  hand  has  been  recalcitrant, 
has  refused  to  obey  the  left,  and  has  taken  charge  of 
the  swing,  with  the  consequence  that  the  turning 
movement  of  the  wrists  has  not  been  properly  carried 
out.  It  follows  that  the  turning  movement  of  the 
body  is  not  properly  completed  either,  and  the  whole 
swing  is  thrown  out  of  gear.  There  is  nothing  for  it 
but  to  pay  great  attention  to  the  wrist  movement, 
and  go  back  if  necessary  to  that  back-handed  move- 
ment of  the  left  hand.  On  the  other  hand,  the  player 
may  have  made  exactly  the  opposite  mistake  ;  he 
may,  with  the  best  intentions,  have  exaggerated  the 
turning  movement,  so  as  to  swing  the  club  with  a 
scythe-like  motion  round  the  middle  of  his  back, 
while  the  wrist,  from  overmuch  zeal,  is  actually 
turned  out  instead  of  in.  If  so,  he  must  see  to  it  that 
in  turning  over  his  wrists  he  does  not  perform  that 
action  with  such  misdirected  energy  as  to  turn  the 
left  elbow  outward  and  far  away  from  the  body.  If 
the  left  elbow  be  kept  lightly  brushing  against  the 
chest  as  the  club  goes  up,  the  wrists  ought  not  very 
gravely  to  misbehave  themselves  in  this  particular. 

These  are  the  two  extremes  of  error  into  which  the 
player  may  have  fallen,  but  I  will  assume  that  he  has 


DRIVING  39 

avoided  them  both  and  is  now  comfortably  poised  at 
the  top  of  the  swing — comfortably  and  yet  with  a 
certain  sense  of  tension  :  tension  of  the  wrists  if 
they  are  bent  beneath  the  shaft  as  they  ought  to  be : 
of  the  body  if  it  has  turned  properly,  and  of  the  right 
knee,  which  ought  not  to  have  been  allowed  to  bend 
in  the  slightest  degree.  He  ought  not  in  fact  to  stop 
at  this  point,  for  the  club  should  come  down  again 
after  only  an  imperceptible  pause,  but  I  may  allow 
him  to  stop  and  rest  for  a  minute,  because  he  has 
now  accomplished  infinitely  the  most  laborious  and 
difficult  part  of  his  task.  The  down  swing  which 
actually  does  the  hitting  of  the  ball  is  child's  play 
compared  with  the  up  swing  ;  granted  a  proper  up 
swing,  the  down  swing  will  come  almost  automatically. 
Therefore,  though  the  club  has  at  first  to  be  taken  up 
carefully,  it  can  almost  from  the  first  be  brought 
down  comparatively  light-heartedly,  subject  only  to 
two  words  of  caution.  The  head  must  be  as  immov- 
able as  ever  ;  the  player  must  keep  his  eye  on  the  ball 
or,  as  I  have  seen  it  well  expressed,  he  must  take  care 
to  see  his  club  strike  the  ball ;  also  he  must  not  allow 
himself  to  think  too  much  of  the  word  hit :  he  must 
remember  that  he  is  still  swinging. 

On  this  down  swing  the  various  movements  before 
described  will  repeat  themselves  in  an  exactly  reverse 
order  :  the  wrists  will,  so  to  speak,  uncoil  themselves  : 
the  body  will  turn  back  on  its  immovable  axis  :  the 
right  shoulder  will  come  round  and  under.  But,  and 
this  is  intensely  important,  the  player  must  let 
these  things  happen  spontaneously :  he  must  not 


40  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

try  to  help  them.  If  he  does,  he  will  probably  turn 
his  right  wrist  over  and  beat  the  ball  heavily  over 
the  head  with  the  face  of  the  club  turned  inwards. 
He  must  regard  himself  rather  as  a  piece  of  machinery 
which  has  been  carefully  and  correctly  wound  up 
and  must,  so  to  speak,  go  off  by  itself.  Left  to 
itself,  the  machinery  will  bring  hands,  body,  club  and 
all  back  to  the  ball  in  exactly  the  same  position 
in  which  they  were  when  the  swing  was  begun, 
and  to  do  this  is,  I  suppose,  the  secret  of  accurate 
hitting.  But  the  machine  must  not  be  stopped  with 
a  whir  and  a  jerk  when  the  ball  is  reached.  Left  to 
itself — and  this  phrase  cannot  be  repeated  too  often — 
the  swing  will  finish  right  out  and  the  club  head  go, 
as  it  were,  clean  through  the  ball  and  end  over  the 
left  shoulder,  while  body  and  legs  follow  obediently 
in  its  wake.  A  good  player  can,  by  putting  in  force 
at  the  right  moment,  accelerate  the  working  of  the 
machine  without  dislocating  it.  The  novice  must  not 
try  to  do  so  ;  it  will  work  quite  quickly  enough 
unaided.  It  is  because  this  is  such  a  hard  lesson  to 
be  learned  that  the  word  hit  is  to  be  deprecated.  The 
good  player  does  hit  very  hard,  but  he  hits  smoothly 
and  through  the  ball ;  the  bad  player  hits  at  it,  and 
to  do  that  is  to  stop  the  swing  with  a  jerk.  It  is  far 
easier  to  avoid  this  error  if  nothing  more  solid  than  a 
daisy  takes  the  place  of  a  ball,  just  because  it  is  so 
much  easier  to  imagine  oneself  hitting  through  a  daisy. 
Wherefore  the  ball  should  be  eliminated  until  the 
club  swings  backwards  and  forwards  smoothly  and 
easily.  The  longer  the  learner  can  do  without  a  ball, 


DRIVING  41 

the  longer  will  be  the  distance  that  he  will  some  day 
be  able  to  drive  it. 


(6)  THE  STANCE 

When  dealing  with  the  elementary  principles  of 
the  driving  swing,  the  position  of  the  feet  was  dis- 
missed in  rather  cavalier  fashion.  It  must,  however, 
be  faced,  and  with  it  the  golfer  is  confronted  with  a 
question  which,  if  not  acutely  controversial,  is  at  any 
rate  one  of  opinion.  To  the  earnest  student  of  golf 
it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  trace,  very  shortly, 
the  changes  both  in  teaching  and  in  actual  practice 
which  have  taken  place  on  this  one  point.  In  1890 
the  author  of  the  Badminton  volume  laid  down  the 
law  dogmatically  thus  :  that  supposing  an  imaginary 
line  to  be  drawn  from  the  player's  left  toe  parallel 
with  the  line  on  which  he  intended  to  drive,  his  right 
toe  should  be  some  three  inches  in  rear  of  that  line. 
In  common  golfing  language  he  was  to  stand  with  his 
right  foot  behind  his  left.  This  theory  the  author 
justified  in  three  ways  :  by  deductions  from  first 
principles,  by  referring  to  the  older  golfing  manuals 
of  Mr.  Chambers  and  Mr.  Forgan,  and  by  pointing 
to  the  example  of  the  great  majority  of  good  players 
of  that  date.1  After  that  there  arose  a  race  of  fine 
players  nearly  all  of  whom  acted  in  direct  opposition 
to  these  tenets,  by  standing  more  or  less  '  open/ 

1  It  may  be  noted,  as  giving  a  hint  of  some  previous  changes  of 
opinion  in  more  ancient  times,  that  at  this  same  date  Sir  Walter 
Simpson  speaks  of  the  style  recommended  both  by  himself  and 
Mr.  Hutchinson  as  the  new  as  opposed  to  the  old  style. 


42  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

that  is  to  say,  having  the  right  foot  in  advance  of 
the  imaginary  line.  One  may  quote  as  conspicuous 
instances,  Mr.  Ball,  who  had  previously  been  regarded 
as  the  exception  that  proved  the  rule,  Mr.  Hilton, 
Mr.  F.  G.  Tait,  J.  H.  Taylor  and  Harry  Vardon,  and 
of  a  rather  younger  generation  Mr.  Maxwell  and  Mr. 
Graham,  three  of  whom  have  in  print  upheld  the  open 
stance  as  the  best.  With  these  forcible  examples 
before  them,  the  golfing  world,  always  an  imitative 
and  easily  influenced  one,  largely  threw  off  its  allegi- 
ance to  its  pristine  teachers  and  adopted  an  open 
stance,  sometimes  with  benefit  to  itself,  sometimes 
probably  with  disastrous  results.  To-day  the  pen- 
dulum has  swung  slightly  back  again.  From  an  ex- 
perience in  watching  golf  during  the  last  few  years 
which,  though  certainly  not  peculiar,  is  at  any  rate 
extensive,  I  should  say  that  the  greater  number  of 
good  players  still  stand  slightly  but  perceptibly  open, 
and  that  very  few  indeed  have  the  right  foot  actually 
behind  the  left.  On  the  other  hand,  Taylor,  who 
perhaps  afforded  the  most  conspicuous  example  of 
the  open  stance,  has,  I  think,  his  right  foot  further 
back  than  in  his  early  days,  and  Braid,  the  most 
notable  player  of  the  last  few  years,  stands,  and  has 
recommended  others  to  stand,  '  square/  that  is  to  say 
with  neither  foot  perceptibly  in  front  of  the  other. 

When  all  is  said  and  done,  it  must  be  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  a  matter  of  individual  preference. 
If  any  man  feels  a  strong  natural  predilection  for  any 
particular  stance,  not  grotesquely  exaggerated,  can 
only  feel  comfortable  in  that  stance,  and  is  reasonably 


DRIVING  43 

successful  with  it,  he  will  probably  be  ill-advised  to 
change  it.  Most  of  us,  however,  are  not  reasonably 
successful,  and  therefore  one  may  sum  up  the  argu- 
ments for  the  different  methods  and  indicate  as 
judicially  as  possible  one's  own  conclusion. 

The  teachers  of  the  older  school  said  shortly  this  : 
that  to  have  the  right  foot  in  rear  of  the  left  helps  the 
player  to  take  the  club  well  out  away  from  his  body, 
and  so  obtain  a  bigger  flatter  sweep  of  the  club. 
They  carried  the  war  into  the  enemy's  country  by 
adding  that  the  open  stance  had  a  tendency,  by  reason 
of  the  more  vertical  taking  up  of  the  club,  to  check 
the  swing,  and  produce  that  most  hideous  of  all 
diseases,  slicing.  The  argument  of  the  other  side 
was  briefly  this  :  that  the  player  with  his  right  foot 
in  advance  was  better  able  to  see  where  he  was  going, 
and  so  could  aim  better  ;  that  he  could  follow  through 
more  easily  and  with  less  effort ;  and  that  he  had, 
generally,  more  control  over  himself  and  his  club. 

To  the  arguers  on  both  sides  one  may  say,  in  the 
words  of  the  conciliatory  innkeeper  in  Silas  Marner, 
'  The  truth  lies  atween  you  ;  you  're  both  right  and 
both  wrong,  as  I  allays  say.' 

There  is,  for  instance,  no  doubt  that  the  old  stance, 
as  I  will  call  it,  does  let  the  arms,  and  so  the  club,  go 
further  out  from  the  body,  and  when  a  golfer  gets 
into  a  cramped  and  confined  method  of  hitting,  as  will 
sometimes  happen,  the  remedy  of  putting  the  right 
foot  an  inch  or  two  further  back  is  at  least  worth  a 
respectful  trial.  But — and  here  is  the  rub — it  may 
be  gravely  questioned  whether  the  doctrine  that  the 


44  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

arms  should  go  as  far  as  possible  out  from  the  body  is 
a  sound  one  at  all.  We  have  seen  that  with  nearly 
all  good  drivers  the  club  head  is  not  taken  away  for 
any  distance  in  a  straight  line  behind  the  ball.  If 
it  were,  the  arms  would  of  course  go  with  it,  right  out 
and  away  from  the  body.  But  since  we  have  agreed 
that  the  club  is  to  be  taken  very  decidedly  inwards, 
it  follows  that  the  arms  go  inwards  too,  and,  save  in 
the  sense  that  the  swing  must  be  free  and  not  cramped, 
they  do  not  go  out  from  the  body  at  all.  Nothing 
is  more  noticeable  about  the  driving  of  the  modern 
professionals  than  the  fact  that  they  keep  their  arms 
quite  close  to  the  body.  It  is  a  free  style,  of  course, 
splendidly  free,  but  it  is  a  wonderfully  compact  style 
too.  And  this  look  of  compactness  is  due,  I  fancy, 
to  the  arms  never  straying  far  away  from  the  body. 
Taylor  is  the  most  noticeable  of  all  in  this  direction, 
with  that  right  elbow  of  his  never  leaving  his  side — 
a  principle  on  which  he  lays  great  stress ;  but  Taylor 
is  not  really  the  best  example,  because  he  is  an  abnormal 
player  with  an  abnormal  wrist  and  forearm.  What 
other  player  could  finish  with  his  hands  tucked  away 
in  the  pit  of  his  stomach,  and  yet  hit  the  ball  perfectly 
straight  and  hideously  far  ?  Look  rather  among  the 
young  players,  at  Duncan,  as  free  and  slashing  a  hitter 
as  can  be,  and  see  how  well  into  himself  he  keeps  his 
arms.  Look  among  the  older  men,  at  Harry  Vardon, 
upon  whom,  with  certain  obvious  differences,  Duncan 
has  clearly  modelled  his  style  ;  there  is  the  same 
beautiful  compactness.  Sherlock,  again,  a  player 
in  some  ways  sui  generis,  lets  the  right  elbow  slide 


DRIVING  45 

noticeably  round  his  back  ;  his  arms  certainly  do  not 
go  out  from  the  body  in  the  sense  in  which  the  words 
are  used  in  the  Badminton.  One  would  hardly  tell 
a  beginner  deliberately  to  keep  his  arms  close  to  his 
body,  or  at  any  rate  to  do  so  would  be  to  incur  a  grave 
responsibility,  with  the  possibility  of  cramping  him 
for  life.  One  might  rather  compromise  by  telling  him 
to  avoid  swinging  wildly  with  the  arms.  At  any  rate, 
having  regard  to  the  weight  of  modern  teaching  and 
example,  one  would  not  tell  him  deliberately  to  take 
the  club  out  from  his  body,  and,  that  being  so,  the 
chief  argument  for  the  right  foot  back  goes  by  the 
board.  One  or  two  further  arguments  against  this 
attitude  may  be  adduced.  For  one,  it  is  for  most 
people  a  difficult  position  in  which  to  aim  straight ; 
and  for  another,  the  fact  of  having  to  reach  out  over 
the  left  foot  produces  a  tendency  to  stooping,  as  any 
one  can  discover  by  personal  experiment.  Again,  it 
is  an  attitude  which  lends  itself  perhaps  more  fatally 
than  almost  any  other  to  exaggeration  :  the  right 
foot  is  apt  to  creep  back  and  back  till  the  golfer,  who 
started  by  aiming  towards  long-on,  will  end  by  trying 
to  hit  to  square  leg.  When  the  position  is  in  the  very 
least  degree  exaggerated,  the  player  can  only  follow 
through  in  the  desired  direction  by  wrenching  round 
his  shoulders  with  a  palpable  effort.  Even  among 
very  good  players  who  stand  with  the  right  foot 
noticeably  far  back,  I  have  noticed  the  tendency  to  a 
forced  and  ungainly  twist  of  the  shoulders. 

And  now,  having  poured  a  broadside  of  abuse  into 
the  old  stance,  let  us  attack  the  new  or  open  stance. 


46  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

The  gravamen  of  the  charge  against  it  is  that  it  causes 
the  club  to  be  taken  up  too  vertically,  the  swing  to 
be  too  '  straight  up  and  down.'  In  this  charge  there 
is  truth  if,  and  as  I  venture  to  think  only  if,  the  open 
stance  is  exaggerated.  What  of  course  constitutes 
exaggeration  is  a  question  which  may  be  asked,  and 
can  be  best  answered  by  indicating  what  is  not 
exaggeration.  It  may  safely  be  said  that  to  have 
the  right  foot  three  or  four  inches  in  front  of  that 
imaginary  line  of  ours  comes  within  the  limit  of  strict 
moderation.  Let  the  reader  take  a  club  and,  at 
imminent  risk  to  the  chimney  ornaments,  try  the 
experiment  himself.  He  will  find  that  if  the  right 
foot  be  advanced  immoderately,  the  right  leg  and 
shoulder  will,  if  one  may  say  so,  get  in  his  way,  or,  to 
be  precise,  in  the  way  of  the  club,  so  that  his  only 
comfortable  plan  will  be  to  take  up  the  club  more 
vertically.  Also — and  I  think  this  is  the  more  impor- 
tant point  of  the  two — he  will  discover  that  a  much 
more  forcible  turn  of  the  body  is  needed  if  he  is  to 
be  in  the  proper  position  at  the  top  of  the  swing, 
and  so  there  is  the  greater  temptation  not  to  turn  the 
body  at  all ;  from  this  last  crime  the  taking  up  of 
the  club  too  straight  follows  almost  inevitably.  The 
moral  of  this  is  that  the  player  who  adopts  the  open 
stance  must  be  very,  very  careful  to  keep  that  right 
foot  within  bounds.  To  be  for  a  moment  egotistical, 
I  have  sometimes  found  that  with  a  very  decidedly 
open  stance,  I  can  drive  with  an  ease  and  fire  and 
straightness  of  which  I  did  not  believe  myself  capable — 
for  a  while.  It  may  be  for  a  few  shots,  or  a  whole 


DRIVING  47 

round,  or,  and  this  is  sadly  rare,  for  a  whole  day,  but 
there  always  comes  a  breakdown,  due,  no  doubt,  to  a 
gradual  exaggeration  of  the  successful  stance,  and 
that  breakdown  is  the  worst  of  the  many  kinds  to  which 
I  have  been  a  martyr.  At  length  I  have  learnt  wisdom 
on  this  one  point,  and  if  in  the  hour  of  my  affliction  a 
kind  friend  makes  the  suggestion  that  I  should  stand 
more  open,  my  invariable  reply  to  him  is,  '  Get  thee 
behind  me.'  I  know  he  is  only  tempting  me  to  a  worse 
fall. 

From  the  fact  that  two  equally  eminent  golfers  have 
written  that  the  open  stance  (1)  impedes  and  (2) 
facilitates  the  art  of  following  through,  a  cynical 
reader  might  draw  the  conclusion  that  in  this  particular 
regard  it  has  no  effect  whatever.  My  own  experience, 
for  what  it  is  worth,  is  that  it  is  easier  to  follow  through 
when  standing  open.  The  fact  that  the  player  is 
already  facing,  in  a  slight  degree,  in  the  direction  in 
which  he  means  to  drive,  seems  to  allow  club,  arms, 
and  body  to  go  forward  more  easily  in  that  direction. 
Indeed,  in  that  word  body  there  lurks  a  hidden  danger  ; 
it  is  fatally  easy  to  lurch  forward  with  the  body 
instead  of  standing  still,  so  that  Braid  says  that 
1  the  chief  danger  of  the  open  stance  is  the  tendency 
which  undoubtedly  exists  to  put  the  body  into  the 
stroke  too  soon.  The  body  seems  to  want  to  get  in 
almost  as  soon  as  the  club  begins  the  down-swing, 
and  when  the  player  is  a  little  off  his  game  it  is  con- 
stantly getting  there  before  the  club.' 

The  reader  may  by  now  have  discovered  for  himself 
the  advice  to  which  all  this  argument  has  tended, 


48  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

namely,  that  he  should  avoid  the  error  of  either  party 
by  adopting  a  stance  that  shall  be  as  far  as  possible 
square.  Let  the  right  foot  be  three  or  four  inches  in 
front  and  not  more  :  let  him  be  for  ever  watching  and 
praying  that  this  foot  does  not  encroach  any  further. 

According  to  the  stance  he  adopts,  the  player  will 
stand  more  or  less  behind  his  ball.  He  may  have  the 
ball  almost  opposite  to  his  left  heel,  or  to  the  middle 
of  his  body,  or  further  back  still  almost  opposite  his 
right  heel.  The  latter  is  a  phenomenon  occasionally 
to  be  observed  in  the  styles  of  those  who  stand  very 
open,  but  is  not  to  be  imitated.  The  object  to  be 
obtained  is,  roughly  speaking,  that  '  the  ball,  club 
shaft  and  hands  should  be  all,  as  nearly  as  possible, 
in  the  same  vertical  plane.'  To  this  may  be  added 
that  the  getting  of  the  hands  in  front  of  the  ball  is, 
on  the  whole,  a  commoner  error  even  than  having 
them  too  far  behind.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  shots 
are  annually  mistimed  by  the  hands  coining  through 
too  soon,  and  if  a  man  start  by  having  his  hands  too 
far  in  front  of  the  ball,  he  is  surely  encouraging  himself 
in  this  common  error.  Therefore  it  seems  wise  to  put 
the  ball  as  far  forward  as  is  comfortably  possible,  but 
a  few  inches  behind  the  left  heel.  If  the  player  comes 
to  feel  that  he  cannot  reach  the  ball  on  the  down 
swing  without  a  forward  lunge  of  his  body,  he  may 
be  sure  that  he  has  exaggerated  yet  another  virtue 
into  a  vice  and  has  got  the  ball  too  far  forward.  This 
is  comparatively  rare,  however,  and  a  much  more 
frequent  and  insidious  bad  habit  is  that  of  getting  too 
far  in  front  of  the  ball.  This  attitude  gives  for  a 


DRIVING  49 

while  a  great  sense  of  power,  of  being  well  over  the 
ball,  but  the  ensuing  breakdown  is  nearly  always  a 
particularly  bad  one. 

Besides  what  may  be  called  this  main  question  as 
regards  the  stance,  there  are  two  or  three  subsidiary 
ones,  two  of  which  are  of  so  elemental  a  character 
that  perhaps  I  should  have  put  them  first.  They  are, 
first,  How  far  away  the  player  is  to  stand  from  the 
ball ;  and,  secondly,  How  far  his  feet  are  to  be  apart  ? 

It  is  a  truism  to  point  out  that  the  first  question 
must  depend  largely  on  the  lie  of  the  club,  and  that 
the  more  upright  the  club  the  nearer  must  the  player 
stand  to  his  ball.  There  are  a  few  people  who,  so  to 
speak,  flatten  the  lie  of  their  clubs  by  holding  them 
in  such  a  way  that  the  heel  of  the  club  rests  on  the 
ground,  while  the  toe  is  cocked  in  the  air.  One 
exceedingly  sound  golfer,  Mr.  H.  S.  Colt,  has  a  suspicion 
of  this  style  about  his  driving,  although  it  is  not  so 
marked  as  in  his  putting,  wherein  only  the  extreme 
heel  of  the  club  rests  upon  the  ground.  One  may 
assert,  however,  with  some  boldness  that  it  is  not  a 
good  plan,  that  the  head  should  rest  on  the  turf  at 
its  natural  angle,  and  that  if  a  man  wants  to  drive 
like  the  '  auld  wife  cuttin'  hay  '  of  Bob  Martin,  he  had 
better  buy  a  flat  club.  There  are  a  few  who  may  be 
seen  with  only  the  toe  of  the  club  on  the  ground,  a 
feat  accomplished  by  holding  the  wrists  abnormally 
high  in  an  attitude  of  the  most  exquisite  discomfort, 
but  these  are  almost  invariably  bad  players  who  may 
be  condemned  without  any  show  of  respect. 


50  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

Since  so  much  must  depend  on  the  lie  of  the  club 
head  and  also  on  the  length  of  the  shaft,  it  would  be 
futile  to  lay  down  any  rule  in  feet  and  inches,  and  no 
better  guide — though  it  is  of  course  only  a  rough  guide 
— can  be  given  than  that  of  the  Badminton  Library : 
*  The  ball  should  be  at  just  such  a  distance  from  the 
player  that  when  the  club  is  laid  with  its  heel — not  the 
centre  of  the  face — to  the  ball,  the  end  of  the  club 
shaft  reaches  just  to  the  player's  left  knee  as  he  stands 
upright.'  A  more  general  piece  of  advice  may  be 
added  that  the  player  should  stand  as  far  away  from 
the  ball  as  he  can,  consistently  with  holding  himself 
tolerably  upright ;  and,  further,  that  he  should  always 
be  on  his  guard  against  standing  too  close  to  the  ball. 
The  beginner  nearly  always  desires  to  get  close  to  his 
ball,  and  the  seasoned  player  is  quite  likely  to  fall 
into  the  error  of  gradually  creeping  in.  Braid,  who 
is  a  great  advocate  of  standing  far  away  from  the 
ball,  carries  out  his  own  precepts  so  thoroughly  that 
he  addresses  the  ball  with  the  extreme  nose  of  the 
club,  and  this  is  also  a  feature  of  the  style  of  another 
great  golfer,  Mr.  Mure  Fergusson.  Presumably  in  the 
course  of  their  swing  these  two  fall  ever  so  slightly 
forward,  so  as  to  bring  the  centre  of  the  face  against 
the  ball,  but  the  fact  that  they  can  do  it  is  not  enough 
to  justify  the  less  talented  in  trying  such  tricks.  As 
far  as  I  know,  Mr.  Laidlay  is  the  only  good  player  who 
addresses  the  ball  with  the  heel  of  his  driver,  and  then, 
by  way  of  compensation,  falls  ever  so  slightly  away 
from  the  ball  in  the  course  of  the  swing.  This,  too, 
is  an  eccentricity  of  genius  not  to  be  imitated. 


DRIVING  61 

As  to  the  distance  between  the  feet,  the  ancient 
piece  of  advice  may  be  quoted,  merely  in  order  to  give 
some  rough  idea,  that  the  distance  between  the  feet 
should  be  eighteen  inches.  One  or  two  considerations 
may,  however,  be  pointed  out.  To  stand  with  the 
feet  very  far  apart,  in  short  to  straddle,  ought  to 
ensure  a  certain  firmness  on  the  feet,  and  may  be 
recommended  to  those  conscious  of  unsteadiness  in 
this  respect.  Of  all  golfers  there  is  no  one  who  is  so 
splendidly  steady  on  his  feet  as  Mr.  John  Ball,  and 
he  has  rather  a  wide  stance.  Yet  those  who  knew 
his  game  a  good  many  years  back  will  tell  you  that  he 
now  has  his  feet  very  decidedly  nearer  than  of  yore. 
This  may  be  because  even  Mr.  Ball  is  not  quite  so 
young  as  he  was  once,  and  a  very  wide  stance  increases 
the  strain  on  the  back  and  demands  distinctly  more 
exertion  in  swinging  the  club.  There  is  also  in  this 
style,  as  may  be  found  by  experiment,  a  greater 
temptation  to  an  altogether  too  free  and  exuberant 
movement  of  the  knees  :  some  very  wide  straddlers, 
indeed,  attain  at  the  top  of  the  swing  to  an  attitude 
best  described  perhaps  as  prayerful. 

To  go  to  the  opposite  extreme  and  stand  with  the 
feet  very  close  together  makes  an  easier  business  of 
the  swing  ;  indeed,  there  is  some  danger  of  too  much 
ease,  and  a  consequent  loss  of  power.  This  method 
is  nevertheless  characteristic  of  at  least  three  very 
excellent  golfers,  the  Messrs.  Ellis,  H.  G.  B.  and  H.  C., 
and  Mr.  H.  W.  Beveridge.  The  latter  nowadays  has 
his  feet  wonderfully  close  together,  and  his  style  of 
driving  is  certainly  a  very  easy  one.  I  am  not  sure 


52  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

whether  he  is  quite  so  long  as  he  used  to  be,  but  he 
would  appear  to  have  gained  perceptibly  in  accuracy 
of  hitting.  To  any  one  conscious  either  temporarily 
or  permanently  of  too  forcing  a  style,  with  too  much 
body  and  knee  movement,  and  an  inability  to  let  the 
club  come  well  and  easily  through,  this  style  may  be 
respectfully  recommended  for  trial. 

Any  measurements  of  distance  between  the  feet 
must  largely  depend  on  the  relative  positions  of  the 
player's  heels  and  toes  ;  or  whether,  and  if  so  to  what 
extent,  he  turns  his  toes  out.  This  will  again  depend 
in  a  measure  on  whether  or  not  he  adopts  a  more  or 
less  open  stance.  Those  who  stand  in  what  I  have 
called  the  old  style  are  inclined  to  have  the  left  foot 
hardly  turned  out  at  all,  and  the  right  turned  out 
palpably  more.  Players  in  the  open  style,  on  the 
other  hand,  have  the  left  foot  turned  well  out,  while 
the  right  foot  is  almost  at  right  angles  to  the 
imaginary  line  drawn  parallel  to  the  line  of  flight. 
This  is  the  case  with  Harry  Vardon,  for  example, 
and  it  is  the  obvious  and  natural  thing  to  do.  In  the 
same  way  it  is,  I  suppose,  natural  for  those  who  have 
quite  a  square  stance  to  have  both  feet  turned  slightly 
outward,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  '  what  is  natural 
can't  be  desperate.'  At  the  same  time,  observation 
of  the  best  players  of  the  day  shows  that  they  nearly 
all  of  them  have  the  left  foot  turned  very  perceptibly 
more  outward  of  the  two,  and  there  is,  I  think,  one 
good  reason  for  having  the  right  foot  scarcely  at  all 
turned  out.  It  is  generally  held  that,  for  the  sake 
of  greater  stillness  and  steadiness  of  the  body,  the 


DRIVING  53 

right  knee  should  not,  at  the  top  of  the  swing,  be 
bent  to  any  perceptible  extent,  and  this  stiff  right 
knee  is  characteristic  of  nearly  all  the  best  drivers. 
A  little  experimenting  will  show  that  the  keeping  of 
the  right  knee  stiff  in  the  upward  swing  is  decidedly 
easier  if  the  foot  be  not  turned  out ;  if  it  be  turned 
out,  there  is  an  inclination  to  let  the  right  knee  swing 
out  also  as  the  club  goes  up. 

Fifthly  and  lastly  in  this  intolerable  discourse,  is  the 
question  of  how  much,  if  at  all,  the  knees  should  be 
bent  in  addressing  the  ball ;  a  question  which  one  who 
is  conscious  of  standing  like  a  broken-down  cab -horse 
must  be  peculiarly  diffident  in  tackling.  There  are 
some  very  fine  players  who  appear  to  stand  with  a 
perfectly  stiff  knee.  Conspicuous  among  them  are 
two  of  the  great  North  Berwick  golfers,  Mr.  Laidlay 
and  Mr.  Maxwell,  and  it  is  an  article  of  faith  with 
Mr.  Laidlay  that  the  backs  of  the  legs  should  be  stiff 
at  the  moment  of  hitting  the  ball.  Still,  for  most 
people  to  stand  with  a  perfectly  stiff  knee  is  uncom- 
fortable, and  the  majority  of  good  players  will  be 
found  to  stand  with  a  very  slight  bend  of  both  knees. 
One  or  two,  such  as  Herd,  stand  with  much  bent 
knees,  but  then  Herd  makes  up  for  this  crouching 
stance  of  his  by  a  conspicuous  lift  of  his  body  in  the 
upward  swing,  and,  grand  player  though  he  be,  this 
is  one  of  his  qualities  that  should  not  be  imitated. 
That  the  player  should  bend  the  knees  '  just  as  little  as 
he  can  avoid  ' — this  would  seem  the  best  conclusion 
of  the  whole  matter. 


64  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

(c)  THE  FOLLOW-THROUGH 

In  the  dim  future  perhaps  some  post-impressionist 
golfer  may  arise  and  declare  that  the  follow-through 
is  not  only  unnecessary,  but  actually  harmful.  At  pre- 
sent, however,  no  one,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  has  had 
the  hardihood  to  say  so,  and  it  is  generally  admitted 
as  one  of  the  essentials  of  good  driving  that  the  club 
head  should  come  well  through  after  the  ball.  There 
is  scarcely  any  point  about  which  the  new  and 
enthusiastic  golfer  becomes  so  excited  as  this  one  of 
following  through  ;  yet  there  are  none  on  which,  as 
it  often  appears  to  me,  he  is  so  wrong-headed  and 
ignorant. 

He  is  apt  to  believe  that,  quite  apart  from  everything 
that  has  happened  beforehand,  some  separate  magic 
resides  in  the  twirls  and  twiddles  that  his  club  performs 
long  after  the  actual  hitting  of  the  ball.  He  determines 
that  the  club  shall  at  all  hazards  come  through,  and  by 
sheer  brute  force  he  does  compel  it  to  do  so  ;  nay,  he 
stands  for  an  intolerable  time  with  it  duly  poised  over 
his  left  shoulder.  Yet  the  ball,  singularly  enough, 
scuttles  along  the  ground  or  soars  away  with  a  sidelong 
motion  to  take  refuge  in  the  whins  :  the  follow-through 
for  photographic  purposes  is  admirable,  but  the  prac- 
tical result  is  contemptible. 

Now  the  follow-through,  though  immensely  impor- 
tant, is  important  chiefly  as  an  outward  and  visible 
sign  of  inward  and  spiritual  grace.  That  which 
happens  to  the  club  after  the  ball  has  gone  is  really 
only  a  piece  of  evidence — the  most  convincing  possible 


A  FINE  FINISH 


DRIVING  55 

evidence  except  the  flight  of  the  ball — that  the  club 
has  reached  the  ball  in  a  proper  manner.  This  has 
very  often  been  said  before,  but  the  matter  is  so  often 
misconceived  that  it  may  be  worth  saying  again. 
To  bring  the  club  head  to  the  ball  in  the  wrong  way, 
and  then,  after  the  mischief  is  done,  to  drag  it  through 
by  main  force  and  suspend  it  over  the  left  shoulder, 
is  an  utterly  futile  proceeding. 

Yet,  half  fearing  that  I  have  written  too  vehemently, 
I  must  at  once  disclaim  any  intention  of  minimising 
the  importance  of  the  follow- through.  If  a  player 
finds  out  for  himself  or  is  told  by  his  friends  that  his 
club  is  not  coming  through,  let  him  pay  heed  to  it, 
for  it  is  as  the  writing  on  the  wall.  He  must  consider 
that  he  is  not  a  Taylor,  who  can  hit  with  a  sturdy 
forearm  punch  and  very  little  apparent  follow-through 
indeed,  and  that  if  his  club  is  not  coming  through 
he  is  probably  committing  one  of  two  main  crimes. 
Either  he  is  letting  his  body  lurch  forward  as  the 
club  comes  down,  so  that  the  hands  get  through  before 
the  club  head,  or  else  he  is  not  so  much  swinging 
his  club  as  lifting  it  up  and  hitting  with  a  snatchy 
jerk.  Whichever  crime  he  decides  on  as  being  his, 
he  will  do  well  to  remember  that  as  the  club  goes  up 
so  it  will  come  down,  and  set  to  work  first  of  all  to 
see  what  is  the  matter  with  his  back  swing.  This  is 
not  to  say  that  the  player  can  never  do  himself  good 
by  concentrating  his  mind  simply  on  the  follow- 
through.  It  must  be  admitted  that  it  is  sometimes  a 
beneficial  course,  although  not  quite,  I  fancy,  in  the 
way  that  many  people  imagine.  By  visualising  his 


56  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

club  as  sweeping  through  after  the  ball,  the  player 
can  often  unconsciously  affect  his  method  of  taking 
back  the  club  :  the  benefit  which  he  attributes  wholly 
to  following  through  comes  really  from  his  back 
swing  having  unconsciously  grown  smoother  and  more 
sweeping. 

There  is  one  point  connected  with  the  follow-through 
which  is  a  delicate  and  difficult  one  :  to  what  extent, 
if  at  all,  is  the  player  to  let  the  body  come  through 
with  the  club.  It  has  been  repeated  ad  nauseam 
that  the  body  is  only  to  revolve  on  its  own  axis.  If 
this  be  so,  it  would  seem  to  be  clear  that  the  body 
should  certainly  not  come  forward  with  the  club, 
but  occupy  at  the  end  of  the  swing  the  position  that 
it  did  at  the  beginning,  subject,  of  course,  to  its  being 
necessarily  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  ball's  flight. 
Nevertheless,  the  same  people  who  taught  us  about 
the  body  revolving  on  its  own  axis  provided  us  with 
pictures  showing  us,  as  an  ideal  finish  to  the  swing, 
a  gentleman  whose  body  has  evidently  lunged  as  far 
forward  a-s  possible  on  to  the  left  foot.  We  might  be 
able  to  disregard  the  pictures,  but  observation  with 
our  own  eyes  shows  us  that  with  nearly  all  good  drivers 
the  body  has  come  perceptibly  forward  at  the  end 
of  the  swing. 

On  this  point  one  observation  clearly  falls  to  be 
made.  The  good  player's  body  comes  forward  not 
before  but  after  he  has  struck  his  blow  ;  it  is  dragged 
forward  by  the  impetus  of  the  arms  and  the  club  head 
as  they  go  flying  out  after  the  departing  ball.  The 
bad  player's  body,  on  the  other  hand,  too  often 


DRIVING  57 

tumbles  or  lurches  forward  as  he  is  in  the  act  of  hitting. 
No  doubt  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  a  little  of  this 
forward  body  movement  after  the  ball  is  struck ;  to 
try  to  do  so  altogether  would  cramp  the  swing  and  lose 
power.  Yet  the  difficulty  is  by  no  means  solved, 
because  at  any  rate  one  very  great  golfer,  Mr.  Hilton, 
deliberately  advocates  the  coming  right  through  with 
the  whole  body.  He  says  that  since  many  good 
golfers  do  not  come  through  with  the  body,  he  cannot 
well  call  it  essential  to  do  so,  but  he  goes  on :  '  I  cannot 
help  feeling  that  whatever  success  I  have  attained 
has  been  greatly  due  to  my  observance  of  this 
principle.'  Incidentally  it  is  interesting  to  know  that 
Mr.  Hilton  acquired  his  very  pronounced  follow- 
through,  not  on  his  own  initiative,  but  because  in  his 
boyhood  he  was  nearly  driven  out  of  his  seven  young 
senses  by  a  judicious  parent  who  insisted,  with  almost 
wearisome  reiteration,  on  this  point  of  the  game. 

The  question  really  seems  to  resolve  itself,  like 
many  others  in  golfing  teaching,  into  one  of  a  balance 
of  temptations.  Which  is  the  commoner  temptation, 
to  fall  backwards  or  to  fall  forwards,  to  come  through 
too  much,  or  not  to  come  through  at  all  ?  I  venture 
to  say  that  the  temptation  to  overdo  the  movement 
of  coming  through  is  far  greater  than  that  of  under- 
doing it.  How  many  thousands  of  golfers  does  one 
see  beginning  to  hit  too  soon,  dancing  on  their  toes 
and  bending  their  knees  long  before  the  club  reaches 
the  ball  ?  Their  bodies  are  through  long  before  they 
ought  to  be,  with  the  inevitable  result  that  the  club 
stops  with  a  jerk  and  never  gets  through  at  all.  True, 


58  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

one  also  sees  those  who  do  not  come  through,  who 
fall  back  feebly  on  to  the  right  foot  at  the  end  of  the 
swing,  but  on  the  whole  they  are  the  less  common. 
It  is  a  case  in  which  each  golfer  must  recognise  his 
own  faults  and  temptations,  and  act  accordingly ; 
but,  since  the  quite  immature  golfer  is  not  always 
capable  of  so  much  intelligent  thought,  I  would  urge 
him  again  to  beware  of  those  alluring  pictures,  and 
too  free  a  movement  of  the  body. 


(d)  SOME  FURTHER  POINTS  IN  DRIVING 

In  trying  to  deal  with  the  elements  of  driving  I 
treated  the  turning  movement  of  the  left  wrist  as  the 
foundation  of  a  true  swing,  which  I  believe  it  to  be. 
The  player  was  vehemently  exhorted  to  acquire  this 
wrist  movement,  and  very  little  more  was  said  as  to 
the  path  on  which  the  club  should  travel  in  the  upward 
swing.  It  must  not  be  overlooked,  however,  that 
there  are  equally  good  players,  possessing  an  equally 
admirable  wrist  action,  who  yet  take  the  club  back 
on  decidedly  different  lines.  Vardon  and  Taylor 
are  two  conspicuous  examples.  Vardon  has  an 
upright  swing,  and  Taylor  a  flat  one.  Vardon's  club 
goes  back  for  some  little  way  almost  straight  behind 
the  ball,  and  is  then  taken  up  rather  suddenly,  although 
sudden  is  perhaps  not  a  good  word  to  apply  to  that 
which  is  superlatively  graceful  and  easy.  Taylor,  on 
the  other  hand,  takes  his  club  back,  as  he  himself 
describes  it,  '  well  round  the  right  leg/  From  the 
moment  the  club  leaves  the  ball  it  travels,  not  on  a 


DRIVING  59 

straight  line  behind  the  ball,  but  inwards  towards  the 
player.  Braid  is  another  who  seems  to  take  the  club 
well  inwards  round  the  legs  from  the  very  moment 
when  the  swing  begins,  and  he  too,  like  Taylor,  has  a 
distinctly  flat  swing. 

Now  this  taking  of  the  club  inwards  would  seem  to 
be  diametrically  opposed  to  some  highly  respectable 
and  cherished  doctrines.  In  the  Badminton  Library 
Mr.  Hutchinson  says  this  :  '  The  club  head  should 
swing  back,  as  far  as  possible,  without  too  forced  and 
painful  straining  after  this  object  upon  a  line  which 
would  be  given  by  production  through  the  ball  and 
to  the  player's  right  of  the  ball's  intended  flight.' 
The  words  quoted  describe  very  accurately  his  own 
method  of  swinging  ;  he  does  not  begin  any  turning 
movement  till  the  club  has  gone  some  way  back, 
and  it  is  this  that  probably  accounts  for  a  slight 
4  hang  '  in  the  middle  of  his  swing,  a  phenomenon  of 
which  he  is  not  conscious  himself,  but  which  he  is 
willing  to  take  on  trust  from  others. 

It  is  a  doctrine  that  may  perhaps  be  advantageous 
in  so  far  as  it  encourages  a  swing  that  is  big  and  free, 
but  it  certainly  complicates  matters  by  introducing 
two  movements  instead  of  one,  and  so  makes  it  the 
more  difficult  to  swing  smoothly.  Moreover,  as  far 
as  I  have  been  able  to  observe,  it  is  contrary  both  to 
the  teaching  and  practice  of  the  majority  of  fine 
players,  and  I  incline,  therefore,  with  great  respect 
to  treat  it  as  an  eccentricity  of  genius.  To  be  sure, 
one  is  also  faced  with  the  fact  that  Vardon  takes*  the 
club  straight  back  for  some  little  distance  behind  the 


60  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

ball,  but  his  again  is  a  different  style,  with  the  club 
taken  more  abruptly  up  and  with  the  arms  kept  much 
closer  to  the  body.  Vardon's  indeed  is  a  style  by  itself, 
which,  much  as  I  admire  it,  I  must  frankly  admit  I 
never  can  quite  understand.  A  better  driver  cannot 
be  found,  but  it  is  possible  perhaps  to  find  a  style 
which  is  a  safer  guide  for  ordinary  mortals. 

It  is  agreed,  then,  that  the  club  is  to  be  taken  rather 
inwards  towards  the  body  in  the  backward  swing, 
but  this  really  need  not  alarm  anybody  into  thinking 
that  he  has  got  something  quite  new  to  remember. 
The  turning  of  the  wrists  properly  begun  will 
naturally  take  the  club  inwards  to  a  quite  sufficient 
degree,  and  there  is  not  the  least  necessity  consciously 
to  accentuate  it ;  to  do  so  is  to  run  a  grave  risk  of 
cramping  the  swing  by  getting  the  arms  tucked  too 
closely  in  to  the  body,  and  indeed  of  ruining  it  in 
various  other  ways.  A  great  many  people  do  not  take 
the  club  sufficiently  in  to  themselves,  and  these  are 
generally  confirmed  slicers  who,  having  thrown  the 
arms  far  out  to  the  right  in  the  back  swing,  bring  them 
sharply  across  to  the  left  in  the  down  swing,  thus 
cutting  across  the  ball  in  the  most  fatal  conceivable 
manner.  If  they  be  observed  closely,  it  will  generally 
be  seen  that  it  is  not  merely  that  they  take  the  club 
back  on  the  wrong  line,  but  that  they  take  it  back  in 
the  wrong  way,  with  the  left  wrist  doing  none  of  the 
things  that  it  ought  to  do.  In  fact,  it  is  the  turn  of 
the  wrist,  at  which  I  am  still  hammering  away,  that 
is  at  fault. 

There  is  another  point  which  may  be  called  con- 


DRIVING  61 

troversial  in  regard  to  the  up  swing,  and  which  is,  I 
am  inclined  to  think,  decidedly  important,  and  that 
is  the  behaviour  of  the  right  hand  at  the  top  of  the 
swing.    We  used  always  to  be  taught  that  the  club 
should  turn  freely  in  the  right  hand,  so  that  at  the 
top  of  the  swing  it   should  be   resting  on  the  web 
between   the   forefinger   and   thumb.     I   may   quote 
from  the  late  Mr.  Everard's  interesting  book,  Golf  in 
Theory  and  Practice.    While  saying  that  it  was  an 
open  question  whether  the  grip  of  the  right  hand 
should  be  tight  or  loose,  and  whether  it  should  be  a 
grip  with  the  fingers  or  the   palm,   he    adds    this : 
*  But  one  thing  is  certain,  that,  when  the  club  strikes 
the  ball,  the  shaft  in  all  cases  must  have  arrived  in 
such  a  position  that  it  is  resting  in  the  fork  at  the  base 
of  the  thumb  ;   those  who  adopt  the  finger  grip  allow 
it  to  drop  into  that  position  during  the  upward  swing.' 
I  do   not    think  this  very  positive    statement  was 
accurate  in  1896  when  it  was  written.     For  instance, 
Mr.  Hilton  was  then,  as  he  is  now,  one  of  the  best  of 
all  golfers,  and  he  has  told  me  that  never  since  he  was 
a  boy  of  fourteen  did  he  let  the  club  thus  fall  into  the 
fork  at  the  base  of  the  thumb.     Neither,  I  am  very 
sure,  did  Taylor  or  Mr.  Laidlay,  who  both  flourished  in 
1896  ;  indeed,  it  is  one  of  the  merits  of  their  method 
of  holding  the  club  that  the  right  forefinger  is  almost 
bound  to  retain  its  control  of  the  club  throughout, 
and  never  let  it  slip.     Vardon,  who  has  the  same  grip, 
in  describing  his  own  position  at  the  top  of  the  swing, 
says  '  the  grip  of  the  thumb  and  first  finger  of  the 
right  hand  ...  is  still  as  firm  as  at  the  beginning.' 


62  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

At  any  rate,  the  statement  would  be  totally  inaccurate 
if  made  to-day.  The  majority  of  professionals  adopt 
the  so-called  Vardon  grip,  and  so  the  club  does  not 
glide  about  in  the  hand,  but  remains  immovable. 

There  are,  of  course,  some  very  fine  golfers  who  do 
let  the  club  slide,  but  to  do  so  must,  as  one  would 
think,  add  to  the  difficulty  of  their  task.  The  chances 
of  losing  control  over  the  club  must  be  perceptibly 
increased  by  any  superfluous  movement.  Of  course 
the  grip  of  the  right  hand  must  not  be  too  vice-like, 
lest  freedom  be  restricted.  The  right  hand  must 
relax  a  little  at  the  top  of  the  swing,  and  we  can 
see  a  noticeable  instance  of  this  in  the  style  of  Mr. 
Hilton,  who  at  the  top  of  his  swing  holds  his  club 
with  an  extraordinarily  delicate  grip  of  the  fingers  of 
the  right  hand.  But — and  this  is  the  important 
point — he  holds  the  club  firmly  with  the  right  fore- 
finger and  thumb  :  he  does  not  let  the  club  flop,  if 
one  may  so  call  it,  into  the  fork  at  the  base  of  the 
thumb,  and  it  is  this  flopping  which  I  so  strongly 
deprecate. 

Only  one  or  two  cardinal  points  in  this  matter  of 
grip  were  insisted  on  at  the  beginning  of  the  chapter 
on  driving,  lest  the  main  issue  should  be  confused, 
but  perhaps  it  may  be  well  to  say  a  little  more  now. 

Since  it  is  used  by  such  a  very  large  number  of  fine 
players,  the  overlapping  or  Vardon  grip  is  certainly 
worthy  of  a  most  respectful  trial.  It  has  been 
described  and  depicted  so  often  that  it  is  almost 
superfluous  to  do  so  again.  A  ringer  grip  with  both 
hands  ;  the  left  thumb  lying  almost  straight  down 


DRIVING  63 

and  not  round  the  shaft ;  the  little  finger  of  the  right 
hand  riding  on  the  first  finger  of  the  left :  these  are 
of  course  its  characteristics.  When  this  method  of 
holding  the  club  was  first  introduced  to  public  notice, 
the  chief  merit  claimed  for  it  was  that  the  overlapping 
of  the  two  hands  made  in  effect  but  one  big  hand  of 
them,  and  that  the  wrists  were  thus  likely  to  work  in 
perfect  unison.  Doubtless  there  is  some  truth  in 
this,  but  I  incline  to  think  that  this  particular  merit 
of  the  grip  has  been  a  good  deal  exaggerated.  I 
believe  that  it  has  proved  beneficial  to  golfers  for 
other  reasons.  First,  because  of  the  firmness  before 
mentioned,  which  reduces  to  a  minimum  the  danger 
of  the  club  sliding  with  too  frolicsome  a  spirit  in  the 
right  hand.  Secondly,  because  of  this  same  firmness 
it  is  more  difficult  for  a  player  grossly  to  over-swing 
himself.  The  left  thumb  held  straight  down  the 
shaft  does  something  to  stop  the  club  going  far  beyond 
the  horizontal  at.  the  top  of  the  swing,  and  the  un- 
relenting grasp  of  the  right  hand  does  more. 

There  are,  of  course,  many  very  fine  players  who 
hold  their  clubs  in  other  ways,  and  it  would  be  very 
foolish  to  say  that  they  are  wrong.  As  to  the  left 
hand,  presuming  the  thumb  to  be  coiled  round  the 
shaft  in  the  elder  fashion,  it  is  of  no  great  moment 
whether  the  grip  be  a  finger  or  a  palm  grip,  so  long  as 
the  knuckles  have  a  decidedly  upward  turn.  As  to 
the  right,  it  is  permissible  to  be  more  positive  and  to 
plump  for  a  finger  grip,  because  the  resultant  swing 
is  more  likely  to  be  smooth  and  harmonious.  To 
have  the  club  sunk  deep  in  the  palm  of  the  right  hand 


64  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

tends  to  produce  a  style  best  described  as  a  heaving 
one,  with  too  much  dropping  of  the  right  shoulder, 
a  heavy  blow  instead  of  a  quick  one.  It  is  also,  I 
know,  the  view  of  Mr.  Hilton,  acutest  of  observers, 
that  it  tends  to  too  long  and  uncontrolled  a  back 
swing.  I  may  perhaps  add,  as  one  conscious  of  far 
too  long  a  back  swing,  that  I  began  life  by  holding  my 
club  deep  in  the  right  palm,  and  have  never  been  able 
to  overcome  this  over-swinging.  A  preacher  of  this 
doctrine  can  always  have  quoted  against  him  Mr. 
John  Ball,  possessor  of  the  most  beautiful  style  in 
all  the  world,  who  appears  to  hold  the  club  sunk  home 
in  a  clenched  right  fist.  But,  in  the  first  place,  Mr.  Ball 
is  a  wholly  exceptional  player ;  and,  in  the  second,  he 
perhaps  deceives  the  superficial  observer.  The  right 
forefinger  straying  quite  loose  gives  a  clue  that  ought 
to  put  us  on  our  guard,  and  in  truth  I  fancy  that  it 
is  the  three  other  fingers  of  the  right  hand  that  do 
most  of  the  hard  work  of  gripping,  and  not  the  fist 
at  all. 

The  golfing  beginner  nearly  always  desires  to  do 
one  of  two  things  as  regards  the  right  hand  :  either 
to  hold  the  club  with  this  tremendous  grasp  of  the 
whole  fist,  or  else,  if  he  holds  more  with  the  fingers, 
to  lay  the  right  thumb  along  and  not  round  the  shaft. 
This  last  gives  him  a  feeling  of  guiding  the  club,  and 
perhaps  it  may  be  well  for  a  short  while  to  let  him 
have  his  own  way.  I  doubt  it,  however,  because  the 
right  thumb  down  is  almost  sure  to  cramp  him,  and 
cause  him  to  take  the  club  up  far  too  abruptly.  It 
is,  generally  speaking,  inimical  to  a  sweeping  stroke. 


DRIVING  66 

Many  good  players  hold  their  iron  clubs  thus,  but  as 
regards  driving  I  can  only  think  of  one,  Mr.  Maxwell. 
There  is  always  an  exception,  and  apart  from  that  Mr. 
Maxwell  has  a  style  as  peculiar  as  it  is  effective.  It 
is  a  stiff  swing,  with  hardly  anything  of  the  orthodox 
wrist  movement,  and  an  equal  measure  of  genius  and 
physical  strength  are  probably  required  to  imitate  it 
at  all  successfully.  So  let  the  right  thumb,  unless 
hopelessly  obdurate,  be  laid  across  and  not  down 
the  shaft. 

There  is  one  more  point  in  particular  upon  which 
modern  players  have  shown  a  tendency  to  differ  from 
the  older  teachers,  and  that  is  as  to  the  distribution 
of  the  weight  at  the  top  of  the  swing.  We  used  to  be 
taught  that  in  the  up  swing  the  weight  was  trans- 
ferred from  the  left  to  the  right  foot,  so  that  when  the 
player  was  at  the  top  of  his  swing  all  his  weight  was 
on  his  right  foot.  Now  even  if  this  doctrine  is  quite 
correct,  and  all  the  weight  is  on  the  right  foot  at  the 
top  of  the  swing,  I  think  it  would  be  a  very  dangerous 
one  to  teach  to  a  beginner,  for  in  his  efforts  to  attain 
this  shifting  of  the  weight  he  would  almost  inevitably 
sway  his  head  and  his  whole  body  to  the  right,  the 
one  thing  of  all  things  that  he  is  not  to  do.  Even  if  he 
kept  his  head  still — and  he  probably  would  not — he 
would  yet  throw  his  body  about  in  a  very  unseemly 
way.  But  in  truth  and  in  fact  I  don't  believe  the 
doctrine  is  true  at  all,  or  only  in  a  very  modified  degree. 
Look  at  the  photographs  of  any  good  player  at  the 
top  of  his  swing,  or  at  the  players  themselves,  and  it 
will  be  seen  that  he  has  still  got  a  very  perceptible 


66  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

amount  of  weight  on  his  left  foot.  The  sounder  and 
more  modern  doctrine  appears  to  be  well  stated  by 
Braid :  *  At  the  top  of  the  swing,  although  nearly 
all  the  weight  will  be  on  the  right  foot,  the  player 
must  feel  a  distinct  pressure  on  the  left  one,  that  is 
to  say,  it  must  still  be  doing  a  small  share  in  the  work 
of  supporting  the  body.  If  it  is  merely  touching  the 
turf,  it  is  a  sign  that  the  weight  has  been  thrown  too 
far  backwards,  and  the  proper  balance  of  the  body 
been  disturbed.'  If  there  is  a  fault  in  this  passage,  it 
is  that  it  is  not  vehement  enough  in  favour  of  the  left 
leg.  The  inclination  to  sway  to  the  right  is  so  deeply 
implanted  in  human  nature  that  it  is,  I  believe,  better 
to  tell  the  beginner  to  keep  the  weight  throughout 
fairly  evenly  distributed  between  the  two  feet,  and 
let  the  transference  of  weight  look  after  itself.  I 
have  heard  of  one  very  good  player  and  teacher  who 
declares  that  when  he  is  driving  well,  he  feels  as  if 
he  were  wearing  a  hole  in  the  toe  of  his  left  sock. 
If  this  be  an  exaggeration,  it  is  both  a  picturesque  and 
useful  one. 


CHAPTER  II 

THROUGH  THE  GREEN  WITH  WOODEN 
CLUBS 

WOODEN  club  play  through  the  green  is  not,  it  must 
be  sorrowfully  admitted,  what  it  once  was.  The 
glory  has  in  a  measure  departed  from  it,  not  because 
golfers  are  less  skilful,  but  because  they  have  far  fewer 
opportunities  of  showing  their  skill.  Golf -balls  are 
made  to  fly  further  and  further  every  year,  and  the 
utmost  fierceness  of  golfing  architects  cannot  keep 
pace  with  the  ingenuity  of  ball-makers.  Not  only 
does  the  modern  ball  fly  an  unconscionable  distance, 
but  it  flies  particularly  far  when  struck  with  an  iron 
club.  The  result  of  this  is  that  when  there  is  any 
grave  doubt  about  the  goodness  of  a  lie  through  the 
green,  it  is  possible  to  take  an  iron  club  and  lose  com- 
paratively little  distance  ;  the  loss  is  so  small  as  to 
be  more  than  compensated  for  by  additional  ease  and 
certainty  in  making  the  shot.  Therefore  the  art  of 
tearing  the  ball  away  from  an  unpromising  lie  with  a 
wooden  club — and  this  used  to  be  one  of  the  most 
magnificent  and  satisfactory  of  all  golfing  shots — 
is  not  nearly  so  valuable  as  it  used  to  be.  The 
Badminton  volume  devotes  considerable  space  to 
explaining  how  the  ball  should  be  jerked  away  with 

67 


68  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

a  brassey  out  of  a  cuppy  lie.  The  shot  was  very  well 
worth  the  learning  and  playing  then,  because  invalu- 
able distance  was  gained  by  daring  greatly  with  wood. 
Now  the  ignoble,  pusillanimous  iron  will  do  very 
nearly  as  well. 

However,  though  long  drivers  have  to-day  but  little 
use  for  their  brassies,  the  club  is  not  wholly  atrophied. 
Many  people  are  not  long  drivers  ;  the  rudimentary 
golfer  is  not  likely  to  be  at  first,  so  he  will  have  this 
consolation  that  the  poorer  is  his  driving  the  greater 
his  opportunity  for  playing  the  j  oiliest  shot  at  golf, 
the  full  bang  through  the  green  with  a  wooden  club. 

For  this  purpose  he  will  have  to  buy  a  brassey, 
unless,  which  is  no  bad  plan,  he  began  to  learn  his 
driving  with  a  brassey  rather  than  a  driver.  Even 
so,  he  had  better  get  another  brassey  with  which  to 
play  through  the  green.  For  his  tee-shots  he  will 
not  desire  a  very  much  lofted  club,  as  soon  as  he  has 
passed  through  the  most  elementary  of  all  stages, 
but  through  the  green  he  had  much  better  adhere 
for  some  while  to  a  club  with  a  good  deal  of  loft.  I 
cannot  help  thinking  that  there  are  hundreds  and 
hundreds  of  golfers  wailing  and  wondering  quite 
unnecessarily  as  to  why  they  cannot  hit  a  wooden 
club  shot  unless  the  ball  be  teed.  A  touch  or  two 
with  a  file  would  often  make  them,  comparatively 
speaking,  happy  for  life. 

As  to  the  shaft  of  the  brassey,  it  should  certainly  be 
rather  stiff,  and  I  am  disposed  to  add  that  it  should  be 
of  the  same  length  as  that  of  the  driver.  It  is  the 
orthodox  thing  to  have  the  brassey  the  shorter  of  the 


WITH  WOODEN  CLUBS  69 

two,  but  unless  a  player  has  a  fancy  for  an  abnormally 
long  club  from  the  tee,  a  quite  needless  complication 
seems  to  be  involved.  The  simplest  and  best  thing 
to  do  is  to  play  the  shot  through  the  green,  when  the 
lie  is  normally  good,  exactly  as  it  would  be  played 
from  the  tee,  and  this  is  made  more  difficult  by 
having  clubs  of  different  length.  I  observe  in  Miss 
Cecil  Leitch's  book  that  she  goes  so  far  as  to  have  her 
brassey  the  longer  of  the  two,  her  reason  being  that 
through  the  green  the  player  may  have  to  stand  above 
the  ball  and  reach  far  down  to  it.  Perhaps,  however, 
on  the  whole  we  shall  go  far  enough  if  we  have  the  two 
clubs  of  the  same  length. 

About  the  straightforward  brassey  shot,  with  a 
good  lie  and  an  even  stance,  there  are  just  two  things 
to  be  said.  In  general,  the  player  is  to  swing  his  club 
exactly  as  he  did  for  a  teed  ball ;  in  particular,  he  is 
not  to  be  afraid  of  the  ground  and  is  to  put  full  con- 
fidence in  his  club.  The  ball  seems  to  be  lying  horribly 
close  to  the  ground,  it  looks  as  if  something  beyond 
the  ordinary  swing  were  needed  in  order  to  hoist 
it  into  the  air.  That  something,  in  the  case  of  the 
beginner,  nearly  always  takes  one  disastrous  form. 
He  drops  his  right  shoulder  and  tries,  as  it  were,  to 
dig  the  ball  by  main  force  out  of  the  ground.  Most 
often  the  ball  utterly  refuses  to  be  dug  out,  and  if 
it  yields  at  all  it  makes  but  a  sulky  little  flight  with, 
as  a  rule,  a  pronounced  curve  to  the  right. 

Now  this  digging  with  the  right  shoulder  is  a  thing 
to  be  avoided  like  the  plague.  Persisted  in  for  any 
length  of  time  it  may  become  an  almost  ineradicable 


70  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

bad  habit.  It  dislocates  the  swing :  it  throws  the 
head  up  into  the  air  :  it  leads  to  much  and  excessive 
bending  of  the  knees  :  it  is  altogether  vile.  It  were 
far  better  for  the  beginner  that  he  should  top  ball 
after  ball  to  begin  with  than  that,  at  the  very  outset 
of  his  career,  he  should  hang  this  millstone  of  a  vice 
round  his  neck.  He  must  believe  that  the  loft  on  the 
club  face  will  do  all  that  is  necessary,  if  only  he  can 
swing  that  club  truly.  Doubtless  the  ball  will  for  a 
while  show  a  desire  to  trundle  along  the  ground :  it  is 
a  way  that  a  ball  has  when  it  is  hit  by  a  beginner. 
It  is  not  so  much  that  he  is  swinging  wrongly  :  it  is 
only  the  ball,  taking  advantage  of  his  youth  and 
innocence,  trying  to  tempt  him  to  dig.  So  he  is  to 
go  on  swinging  easily,  aiming  carefully,  looking  at  the 
ball  with  a  fixed  stern  eye,  declining  to  be  tempted 
into  digging  with  the  shoulder.  The  ball  will  soon 
quail  before  his  intrepid  glance  and  do  as  it  is  bid. 

Thus  far  the  straightforward  shot.  Next  we  must 
deal  with  four  unpleasant  predicaments  that  can  be 
divided  into  two  groups.  The  player's  feet  may  be 
on  the  flat  and  the  ball  may  be  either  above  or  below 
him  :  that  is  two.  Ball  and  player  may  both  be  on 
a  down-slope  or  they  may  be  on  an  up-slope  :  that 
is  two  more.  As  to  all  four  of  these  predicaments, 
the  best  general  piece  of  advice  is  to  take  it  very  easy 
and  not  to  try  to  do  too  much.  Indeed,  when  the 
difficulty  is  too  acute,  it  will  be  wise  to  take  an  iron 
club.  For  the  purpose  of  argument,  however,  we 
assume  that  a  wooden  club  is  justified. 

As  to  the  first  group,  the  ball  below  the  player  is 


WITH  WOODEN  CLUBS  71 

decidedly  more  unpleasant  than  the  one  above  him. 
It  tends  to  tumbling  forward,  which  is  a  vice  more 
easily  yielded  to  than  falling  back ;  and  it  tends  to 
slicing,  which  is  worse  than  pulling.  There  is  not  much 
to  be  said,  save  that  the  player  must  jamb  his  heels 
into  the  ground  and  must  not  fall  forward,  and  he  may 
well  make  some  slight  allowance  for  the  slice.  The 
ball  above  the  player  is,  in  strict  moderation,  not 
wholly  unpleasant.  For  one  thing  it  leads  to  hooking, 
and  to  hit  a  reasonably  hooked  ball  is  great  fun. 
Then  it  inclines  the  player  to  swing  the  club  low 
round  his  shoulder  rather  than  over  it,  and  since  he 
is  probably  disposed  through  original  sin  to  too  upright 
a  swing,  this  may  in  moderation  do  him  more  good 
than  harm.  But  he  must  not  let  himself  be  carried 
away  ;  he  must  swing  very  easily,  and  even  so  he 
will  do  well  to  make  some  allowance  for  the  hook. 
If  the  ball  is  at  all  far  above  him,  he  will  also  do  well 
to  take  a  grip  of  his  club  lower  down  on  the  leather. 

As  to  the  uphill  shot  when  the  player's  left  foot  is 
higher  than  his  right  and  the  ball  lies  upon  an  up -slope, 
there  is  again  some  temptation  to  hook,  but  there  is 
a  still  greater  temptation  to  top.  The  eye  is  apt  to 
look  up  to  the  top  of  the  hill  far  sooner  than  it  ought. 
A  similarly  disastrous  result  is  often  produced  in  a 
different  way  through  the  player  coming  down  with 
his  hands  too  far  in  front  and  so  '  smothering  '  the  ball. 
This  is  caused  by  a  fear  lest  the  uphill  lie  will  make 
the  ball  go  too  high  in  the  air,  and  the  resulting 
determination  to  keep  it  down.  The  best  precaution 
against  taking  the  eye  off  is  clearly  to  keep  it  on  ; 


72  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

in  the  second  case  there  is  not  much  to  do  save  bow 
to  the  inevitable  and  allow  the  ball  to  go  as  high  as 
it  pleases,  concentrating  the  mind  solely  on  hitting  it 
cleanly. 

Fourthly  and  lastly  comes  the  down-slope,  the 
hated  hanging  lie.  The  exact  degree  of  unpleasant- 
ness will  here  depend  not  only  on  the  steepness  of  the 
hanging  lie,  but  also  on  the  nature  of  the  ground 
immediately  in  front  of  it.  Whether  the  ground  in 
front  continues  to  slope  away  from  the  player  or  bobs 
up  again  in  the  form  of  a  nasty  obtrusive  little  hillock 
may  make  all  the  difference  in  the  club  and  the  tactics 
to  be  employed.  Whatever  the  conditions,  however, 
and  whatever  the  club,  there  is  one  golden  rule,  namely, 
to  accommodate  the  swing  to  the  lie  of  the  ground. 
In  one  of  the  old  bound  volumes  of  Punch  there  is 
a  delightful  picture  of  Charles  Keene's  in  which  a 
bootmaker,  with  a  deprecating  manner,  is  suggesting 
to  a  testy  old  gentleman  that  it  would  be  easier  to 
make  boots  for  him  if  he  were  to  cut  his  corns,  to  which 
the  old  gentleman  replies,  '  Cut  my  corns,  sir  !  I  ask 
you  to  fit  me  a  pair  o*  boots  to  my  feet,  sir !  I  'm 
not  going  to  plane  my  feet  down  to  fit  your  boots/ 

Now  the  attitude  of  that  old  gentleman  is  the 
attitude  of  the  hanging  lie.  It  is  no  manner  of  use 
to  be  like  the  bootmaker,  and  swing  the  club  to  suit 
the  ground  as  you  would  like  it  to  be.  You  must 
accommodate  yourself  to  circumstances  and  swing 
down  the  hill.  It  is  another  case  in  which  the  club 
must  be  trusted  to  do  its  work  properly.  And  there 
must  be  no  digging  with  the  right  shoulder.  The 


.  1     .          ••• 

;  :  V  ,     V 


PICKING  THE  BALL  UP  FROM  A  HANGING  LIE 


To  face  p.  72 


WITH  WOODEN  CLUBS  73 

swing  should  be  particularly  easy  and  smooth,  and 
the  ball  should  be  perhaps  a  little  more  nearly 
opposite  the  left  foot  than  usual.  If  the  ball  is  at 
all  far  back,  there  will  be  an  inevitable  tendency 
to  come  down  rather  on  the  top  of  the  ball,  which 
will  be  particularly  fatal.  For  the  same  reason  the 
body  must  be  kept  well  back,  and  its  inclination  to 
tumble  forward  down  the  slope  is  to  be  sternly 
repressed.  When  the  slope  is  particularly  steep,  or 
there  is  rising  ground  in  front  which  has  to  be  cleared, 
nature  can  be  assisted  by  artifice,  in  the  form  of  a 
shot  intentionally  sliced.  The  player  may  stand 
rather  more  open,  and  then,  turning  the  face  of  his 
club  rather  out  to  the  right,  swing  across  the  ball. 
This  shot,  if  properly  played,  will  cause  the  ball  to 
rise  perceptibly  quicker,  but  elementary  persons  are 
so  far  more  likely  to  play  it  improperly  that  perhaps 
they  had  better  take  with  due  humility  to  their  irons. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  SPOON 

No  review  of  wooden  club  play  would  to-day  be 
complete  without  some  mention  of  the  spoon,  which, 
after  being  buried  for  a  while  in  comparative  oblivion, 
has  now  become  exceedingly  fashionable  and  popular. 
There  are  many  spoons :  some  have  short  squat 
heads,  when  they  rejoice  in  the  name  of  '  pug  '  or 
1  bull-dog  ' ;  some  of  them  have  long  heads  and  a 
few  have  heads  of  aluminium  ;  some  are  shod  with 
brass  and  some  are  not ;  but  their  general  characteristic 
is  that  of  a  stiff-shafted  club  decidedly  shorter  than  a 
brassey,  and  having  a  face  considerably  lofted. 

As  there  are  spoons  and  spoons,  so  there  are 
spoon-players  and  spoon-players.  There  are  some 
that  are  celebrated  as  such  :  Mr.  Hilton,  for  instance, 
who  can  do  the  most  wonderful  things,  and  get  an 
incredible  amount  of  stop  upon  the  ball,  with  the  old 
cut-down  driver  that  he  has  wielded  for  years  past 
numbering.  Duncan  is  another  beautiful  spoon- 
player,  and  to  see  him  play  a  shot  right  up  to  the 
hole  with  a  great  deal  of  slice  is  among  the  most 
attractive  sights  in  golf.  Mr.  John  Low  has  a  stroke 
with  a  spoon  which  is,  as  far  as  I  know,  unique — a 
kind  of  wrist-shot  that  is  wonderfully  effective ;  and 

74 


THE  SPOON,  75 

the  editor  of  this  book  can  perform  remarkable  feats 
alike  off  grass  and  out  of  deep  heather  with  a  club 
having  a  long,  rather  springy  shaft  and  an  aluminium 
head. 

Now  these  accomplished  golfers  are  spoon-players 
proper ;  they  play  shots  with  the  spoon  which  are 
different  and  differently  played  from  their  shots  with 
other  clubs.  But  of  these  jugglers  there  are  but  few. 
For  the  hundreds  and  thousands  of  other  golfers  who 
carry  a  spoon  in  their  bag  the  club  is  just  a  short, 
much  lofted  brassey  and  nothing  more.  They  can 
do  nothing  out  of  the  common  with  it ;  they  play  a 
perfectly  ordinary  simple  shot,  which  is  not  quite  so 
long  as  a  brassey  shot,  and  is  possibly  a  little  longer 
than  a  cleek  shot. 

All  this  is  not  to  say  that  the  club  is  not  a  very  good 
one,  and  a  useful  one  to  carry  as  an  alternative  to  a 
cleek,  because  the  latter  is  a  very  fickle  club.  Taylor, 
for  instance,  is  usually  a  magnificent  cleek  player, 
but  at  the  time  he  won  his  fourth  championship  at 
Deal  in  1909,  his  cleek  had  so  utterly  forsaken  him 
that  he  used  throughout  a  little  stumpy-headed, 
lofted  brassey  that  he  called  his  Toby,  and  extra- 
ordinarily fine  shots  he  played  with  it  too.  What  I 
do  say  is  that  for  ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred 
golfers  there  is  no  particular  magic  in  the  club.  I  have 
heard  golfers  of  very  mediocre  attainments  allege 
that  they  can  with  a  spoon  do  wonderful  feats  in  the 
way  of  cutting  the  ball  up  into  a  stiff  wind,  stopping 
the  ball  dead  on  a  glassy  green,  and  so  on.  I  have 
heard  others  talk  as  if  they  believed  they  would  be 


76  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

able  to  do  all  these  things  if  they  only  had  a  spoon. 
As  far  as  I  know,  they  both  deceive  themselves  very 
grossly.  A  spoon  will  be  useful  to  them  when  they 
want  to  hit  rather  a  shorter  distance  than  they  would 
with  their  brassey,  or  when  the  lie  is  hardly  good 
enough  for  a  brassey  shot,  and  to  those  uses  of  it 
they  had  much  better  confine  themselves.  It  is 
unwise  to  attempt  anything  more  subtle  in  the  early 
stages  of  a  golfing  education  :  the  time  will,  I  think, 
be  better  spent  in  mastering  simpler  shots  with  iron 
clubs. 

Of  the  more  recondite  uses  of  the  spoon,  Mr.  Hilton 
is  certainly  the  past  master.  He  can,  if  he  likes,  hit 
the  ball  a  long  way  with  it,  but  more  often  than  not 
he  uses  it  for  comparatively  short  distances,  when  a 
player  of  no  extraordinary  power  would  often  use  no 
club  longer  than  a  fairly  straight-faced  iron.  His 
power  of  making  the  ball  fall  dead  with  practically  no 
run  is  truly  remarkable,  and  he  is  too  extraordinarily 
skilful  in  holding  the  ball  up  against  a  wind  that 
blows  from  right  to  left.  In  this  last  respect  the 
spoon  is,  I  fancy,  particularly  useful,  because  there  is 
always  a  slight  tendency  to  hook  with  iron  clubs, 
and  it  is  particularly  hard  to  hold  the  ball  into  this 
kind  of  cross  wind  with  an  iron  or  cleek.  Mr. 
Hilton's  method  seems  to  consist  of  keeping  the  body 
rather  stiff — he  certainly  does  not  use  it  to  anything 
like  the  same  extent  that  he  does  in  driving — and  to 
trust  chiefly  to  the  arms,  alike  in  the  back  swing  and 
the  follow-through.  This  is  what  he  says  himself : 
1  It  certainly  does  not  seem  correct  to  say  :  Keep 


THE  SPOON  77 

taut  on  the  upward  swing,  and  then  relax  on  the 
downward  sweep,  but  it  is  the  way  I  play  the  stroke 
with  a  spoon.'  That  therefore  must  be  the  way  to 
play  the  best  spoon  shots  in  the  world,  but  to  relax 
in  the  downward  stroke  is  too  dangerous  an  experiment 
for  most  of  us.  Our  already  imperfect  follow-through 
would  be  likely  to  vanish  altogether.  This  kind  of 
spoon  shot  is  advanced  golf  if  ever  there  was  such  a 
thing. 


CHAPTER  IV 
WITH  IRON  CLUBS 

MOST  of  us,  if  we  practise  at  all,  go  in  for  what  may 
be  called  the  two  extremes  of  golf,  driving  and  putting, 
and  leave  our  iron  play  to  take  care  of  itself.  This 
it  does,  as  a  rule,  in  a  highly  inefficient  manner,  for 
though  we  are  bad  drivers  and  bad  putters,  we  are 
worse  iron  players.  That  we  are  thus  lazy  about 
working  at  our  iron  play  must  be  put  down  to  pure 
wilfulness,  because  we  know,  if  we  know  anything 
about  it  at  all,  how  intensely  important  these  iron  clubs 
are :  we  know  that  there  is  nothing  by  which  we  can 
so  swiftly  tell  the  professional  from  the  amateur  as 
the  firm,  confident,  crisp  way  in  which  he  uses  his 
irons.  We  know,  too,  that  there  is  no  sensation 
quite  so  exquisite  as  that  of  a  really  difficult  iron  shot 
really  well  played.  So,  with  the  knowledge  of  this 
besetting  laziness,  it  is  well  to  start  with  the  statement, 
made  with  all  possible  emphasis,  that  alike  for  profit 
and  pleasure,  iron  play  is  enormously  well  worth  the 
cultivating. 

Now  anybody  who  professes  to  teach  another  erring 
human  being  to  use  his  iron  clubs  is  faced  straight- 
way with  one  considerable  difficulty,  a  difference  of 
opinion  between  learned  authorities.  The  question 

78 


WITH  IRON  CLUBS  79 

is  whether  it  is  ever  right  to  play  a  full  shot  with  an 
iron  club,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  expressed,  whether  it 
is  ever  right  to  swing  an  iron  club.  It  may  savour  of 
putting  the  cart  before  the  horse  to  place  an  apparently 
abstruse  discussion  on  the  differences  of  sages  before 
elementary  instruction  for  the  learner,  yet  the  differ- 
ence is  so  fundamental  that  some  mention  of  it  seems 
necessary  in  order  to  clear  the  way. 

The  point  shortly  is  this,  that  various  very  fine 
golfers  have  said  that  for  a  man  to  take  a  full  swing 
with  an  iron  club  as  he  does  with  one  of  wood  must 
always  be  a  crime,  and  that  nothing  more  than  a  half- 
shot  should  ever  be  played  with  an  iron  club  ;  need- 
less to  say,  they  add  that  they  themselves  practise 
what  they  preach.  Now,  in  the  first  place,  I  must 
with  the  greatest  respect  join  issue  with  these 
authorities  on  a  question,  not  of  law,  but  of  pure  fact. 
That  they  do  make  great  and  splendid  use  of  the 
half-shot  is  patent,  but  when  they  say  they  never 
take  anything  approaching  a  full  swing,  I  firmly 
believe  that  they  deceive  themselves  as  well  as  other 
people.  '  The  devil  himself  knoweth  not  the  mind  of 
a  man/  remarked  Chief  Justice  Holt,  and  certainly 
I  cannot  tell  what  is  going  on  inside  a  champion's 
mind  when  he  is  playing  a  cleek  shot.  Doubtless 
he  may  feel  some  difference  from  his  driving  swing, 
but  that  the  cleek  whirls  round  his  head  much  as 
does  his  driver,  it  is  surely  difficult  for  any  one 
gifted  with  a  pair  of  eyes  to  deny.  I  would  go  further 
and  say,  that  many  very  great  players  play  on 
occasions  full  shots  with  their  irons.  Not  all,  I  must 


80  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

admit.  Braid,  for  instance,  when  armed  with  any 
club  short  of  a  cleek,  seems  content  to  play  his  so- 
called  '  dunck,'  which  is  really  a  tremendously  power- 
ful half-shot,  but  he  is,  I  think,  decidedly  the  excep- 
tion ;  and  unless  appearances  are  strangely  deceptive, 
I  have  on  occasions  seen  the  great  Alexander  Herd 
swing  freely  round  his  head  a  club  bearing  a  strong 
family  likeness  to  a  lofting-iron.  So,  on  the  mere 
question  of  fact,  I  cannot  believe  that  full  shots  with 
cleeks  and  driving-irons  are  never  played  by  the 
greatest  masters  of  these  clubs. 

Some  time  after  I  wrote  these  words  I  went  down 
to  Milford  in  order  to  see  taken  the  photographs  by 
which  they  are  illustrated.  As  this  point  is  rather 
an  interesting  one,  I  will  state  as  exactly  as  I  can 
what  happened.  I  told  Robson  to  play  both  with  his 
cleek  and  his  mashie-iron  the  longer  shot  that  he 
would  normally  play  in  a  game  with  either  club,  and 
I  particularly  emphasised  the  fact  that  he  was  not  in 
any  way  to  force  the  club  or  the  shots.  He  appeared 
to  play  both  shots — it  is,  I  trust,  superfluous  to  say 
that  they  were  real  shots — well  within  himself,  the  full 
iron  shot  being  a  particularly  easy  one.  The  results 
speak  for  themselves.  It  will  be  seen  that  with  the 
cleek  Robson  has  swung  well  past  the  horizontal. 
If  that  is  not  essentially  a  swing,  and  a  pretty  full 
swing  too,  then  I  give  the  whole  thing  up  as  a  bad 
job.  With  the  mashie-iron  the  swing,  which  is 
portrayed  on  a  later  page,  is  perceptibly  shorter, 
and  there  is  less  freedom  of  foot-work,  but  the  swing 
is  a  tolerably  free  one  nevertheless. 


UN5V.    v. 

'*'    »    ;    *  ?*"•*•  «*J  •%• 


A  FULL  CLEEK  SHOT :  THE  TOP  OF  THE  SWING 


[To  face  p.  80 


WITH  IRON  CLUBS  81 

Without,  then,  for  a  moment  denying  the  supreme 
value  of  the  half-shot  as  played  by  the  best  golfers, 
I  am  prepared  on  theoretic  grounds,  as  well  as  on 
practical  experience,  to  commend,  within  limits,  the 
full  shot  with  an  iron  club  ;  that  is  to  say,  I  commend 
it  in  the  case,  not  of  young  champions  in  embryo, 
but  of  the  ordinary  elementary  golfer  of  pedestrian 
attainments.  One  of  the  very  greatest  of  iron  players 
has  said  that  it  is  always  easier  to  cover  a  specified 
distance  with  a  half-shot  with  a  powerful  club 
than  a  full  shot  with  a  weaker  one.  Here  again  I 
respectfully  join  issue.  I  have  no  doubt  in  the 
world  it  is  easier  for  him,  but  I  do  not  believe  it  is 
easier  for  the  commonplace  golfer.  For  this  latter 
there  is  no  shot  half  so  difficult  to  master  as  the 
half-shot,  because  there  is  no  shot  which  demands  so 
perfect  a  control  of  the  club,  a  control  which  a  great 
many  golfers  will  never  obtain  as  long  as  they  live. 
Moreover,  to  hit  the  ball  any  real  distance  with  a 
half-swing  demands  a  strength  of  wrist  and  forearm 
which  is  not  given  to  everybody.  With  a  full  swing 
they  can,  as  it  were,  get  up  a  reasonable  amount  of 
steam  and  hit  the  ball  a  reasonable  distance ;  but  if 
confined  to  a  half-shot  they  lack  the  strength  to  get 
any  appreciable  length  with  their  iron  clubs. 

So  much  for  the  cart,  and  now  for  the  horse  that 
comes  after  it.  Iron  shots  are  generally  divided,  in 
colloquial  language,  into  full  shots,  half-shots,  and 
wrist-shots,  to  which  there  must  now,  I  suppose,  be 
added,  as  a  kind  of  corollary,  the  fashionable  and 
mysterious  push-shot.  I  think  that  what  are  loosely 


82  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

called  half-shots  and  wrist-shots  will  be  found  to 
join  naturally  on  to  one  another,  so  that  the  dividing 
line  will  hardly  be  discernible  ;  but  the  heretical  full 
shots  may  at  any  rate  be  put  in  a  class  by  themselves. 

They  will  be  played,  for  the  most  part,  with  the 
cleek,  or  alternatively  the  driving-mashie,  or  also 
occasionally  with  the  driving-iron.  Whether  a  man 
plays  with  a  cleek  or  a  driving-mashie  is,  one  may 
suggest,  of  no  great  moment ;  he  can  have  whichever 
he  fancies.  The  driving-mashie  with  its  broader  face 
looks  the  easier  to  play  with,  and  I  should  be  inclined 
to  recommend  it  as  being  the  easier  club,  but  that  the 
great  majority  of  good  players  use  the  cleek  instead. 
Whichever  is  the  club  chosen,  it  should  have  a  shaft 
that  is  fairly  stiff,  and  it  should,  I  think,  be  moderately 
heavy.  For  the  hitting  of  a  long  ball  with  an  iron 
club  timing  seems  to  be  almost  more  vital  than  with 
wooden  clubs,  and  it  is  easier  to  time  the  stroke 
accurately  when  you  can  feel,  to  some  extent,  the 
weight  of  the  head.  These  observations  also  apply  to 
the  driving-iron. 

Now,  the  player  is  going  with  his  cleek  to  hit  the 
ball  very  nearly  as  far  and  as  hard  as  he  can.  I  say 
very  nearly,  because  if  there  is  any  serious  doubt  in 
his  mind  as  to  whether  or  not  he  can  get  up  with 
the  cleek,  it  will  be  time  for  him  to  take  a  wooden  club. 
He  has  not  got  to  begin  at  the  beginning  with  the 
cleek,  because  he  has  already  learned  the  rudiments 
of  the  full  swing  with  his  wooden  club.  The  best 
thing  he  can  do  is  to  reproduce  that  swing  with  a  cleek, 
subject  to  this,  that  any  variation  between  the  two 


WITH  IRON  CLUBS  83 

swings  is  to  be  in  the  direction  of  moderation  ;  the 
performance  is  to  be  gone  through  on  a  very  slightly 
reduced  scale.  This  reduction  will  come  for  the 
most  part  naturally.  The  club  being  shorter,  the 
player  must  stand  nearer  his  ball,  and  as  a  natural 
consequence  he  will  probably  put  the  ball  rather 
further  back  towards  his  right  foot.  Also  he  may, 
if  he  have  a  mind  to  it,  advance  the  right  foot  slightly, 
since  it  is  a  sound  working  principle  that  the  shorter 
the  shot  the  more  open  the  stance.  Generally 
speaking,  the  swing  may  be  a  thought  shorter  and  more 
controlled  ;  the  grip,  if  anything,  more  firm  ;  and  the 
follow-through  a  little  less  luxuriant.  Yet  these 
differences  are  not  worth  striving  after  painfully  and 
industriously.  All  that  is  worth  aiming  for  is  a 
rather  greater  feeling  of  general  restraint.  It  is 
particularly  important  not  to  hurry  unduly.  The 
comparatively  heavy  head  of  the  iron  club  making 
the  art  of  timing,  as  I  fancy,  rather  easier,  there 
is  less  temptation  to  hurry  than  with  a  wooden 
club  ;  but  if  this  error  is  easier  to  avoid,  it  is  more 
fatal  when  it  is  made.  There  is  a  fine  deliberateness 
about  the  hitting  of  great  iron  players,  and  it  is  to  be 
cultivated  in  the  longest,  as  well  as  the  shortest  of 
iron  shots.  Braid  goes  so  far  as  to  recommend  a 
pause  at  the  top  of  the  swing  with  iron  clubs,  and 
if  this  be  found  to  encourage  deliberateness  without 
dislocating  the  swing,  doubtless  it  is  a  good  thing. 

So  far  as  concerns  the  fuller  shot,  the  cleek  may 
now  be  left  alone  in  order  to  tackle  the  iron.  I  spoke 
of  the  driving-iron,  but  many  people  probably  have  no 


84  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

club  answering  to  that  description,  or  if  they  have 
the  club  they  call  it  by  some  other  name,  medium 
iron,  mid-iron,  or,  simply  and  perhaps  best  of  all, 
iron.  Let  it  be  assumed  therefore  that  we  are  talking 
of  a  club  that  comes  somewhere  between  a  cleek  and 
a  mashie,  that  is  more  lofted  than  the  one  and  less 
lofted  than  the  other.  Now  with  this  iron  a  quite 
full  swing  is  no  doubt  a  thing  to  be  guarded  against. 
I  would  not  say  that  such  a  thing  should  never  be 
done  ;  I  believe  it  is  done  occasionally  by  the  very 
best,  whatever  they  may  say  to  the  contrary  ;  but  it  is 
a  thing  to  be  done  comparatively  rarely.  The  more 
lofted  is  the  iron,  the  more  rash  it  is  to  take  a  very 
full  swing,  since  the  ball  must  necessarily  fly  high 
and  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  wind.  So,  just  as  with  the 
cleek  the  player  was  told  to  exercise  a  little  general 
restraint  over  his  swing,  now  with  the  iron  he  should 
be  conscious  of  restraining  himself  yet  a  little  more. 
Thus  he  will  attain  to  something  perhaps  a  little 
longer  than  a  three-quarter  swing,  and  if  he  can 
stick  to  that  he  will  not  do  badly.  His  stroke  will 
still  be  a  swing  ;  not  so  much  so  as  in  the  case  of  a 
drive  with  a  wooden  club,  but  still  a  swing.  The  next 
stage  of  his  education  will  bring  him  to  the  half-shot, 
and  here,  I  take  it,  the  swinging  element  largely  dis- 
appears, and  the  hit  begins  to  play  a  much  more 
prominent  part.  As  to  the  exact  distance  from  the 
hole  when  a  man  should  begin  to  play  a  half -shot  with 
his  iron,  that  must  naturally  and  necessarily  depend 
on  the  man  himself.  Some  people  can  send  the  ball 
with  a  half-shot  practically  as  far  as  they  can  with  a 


FULL  SHOT  WITH  MASHIE-IRON :  TOP  OF  SWING 


[To  face  p.  84 


WITH  IRON  CLUBS  85 

full  one  ;  others  cannot  get  nearly  so  far,  and  they 
are  the  more  unfortunate,  because  there  is  a  distinct 
gap  in  their  armoury  of  shots  that  has  got  to  be  filled 
somehow. 

Roughly  speaking,  it  may  be  laid  down  that  the 
greater  the  distance  that  can  be  brought  within  the 
compass  of  the  half-shot  the  better,  but  it  is  a  fatal 
thing  to  be  led  by  vainglory  into  attempting  to  play 
half-shots  beyond  one's  strength.  The  man  who, 
when  his  opponent  takes  a  brassey,  himself  takes  a 
cleek  in  order  to  show  his  inherent  superiority  is 
certainly  a  fool,  but  I  doubt  if  he  is  so  lamentable  a 
fool  as  one  who  tries  to  flick  the  ball  up  with  his 
wrists,  when  he  knows  in  his  heart  that  he  ought  to 
be  swinging  the  club  round  his  head.  The  half-shot 
is  essentially  a  controlled  shot  in  which  straightness 
is  everything,  and  distance,  comparatively  speaking, 
nothing.  The  moment  the  player  feels  that  he  must 
get  his  body  into  it  in  order  to  get  the  distance,  he 
may  be  certain  that  he  is  trying  far  too  much. 


(a)  THE  HALF-SHOT 

We  have  been  talking  about  the  half -shot  as  if  it 
were  played  purely  with  the  iron,  but  the  shot  can, 
of  course,  be  played  with  various  other  clubs.  It 
can  be  played  very  profitably  with  a  cleek,  although 
this  is  a  difficult  stroke,  only  to  be  acquired,  if  at 
all,  with  much  practice  and  long  after  the  elementary 
stage  is  past.  It  can  be  played  with  a  mashie,  and 
unless  a  very  abrupt  loft  or  a  very  dead  fall  is  required, 


86  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

it  is  the  easiest  and  most  obvious  shot  for  an  ordinary 
person  to  play  with  a  mashie.  In  short,  it  is  the 
shot  which  is  the  foundation  of  all  approaching,  in 
the  usual  colloquial  sense  of  that  word.  Once  its 
main  principles  have  been  grasped,  the  stroke  may 
with  comparative  ease  be  regulated  to  fit  the  distance. 
For  the  moment  distance  is  not  particularly  to  the 
point ;  the  thing  is  to  grasp  the  character  of  the  stroke, 
which,  having  in  some  respects  the  same  foundation 
as  has  the  driving  swing,  is  yet  so  essentially  different 
from  it. 

Fortunately  there  is  here  no  great  controversy  on 
the  matter  of  stance.  It  is  generally  conceded  that 
the  stance  should  be  more  open,  the  right  foot  further 
forward  than  it  was  in  the  drive,  while  the  greater  part 
of  the  weight  is  on  this  right  foot  and  the  ball  is  placed 
comparatively  far  back.  There  are  the  inevitable 
exceptions.  Mr.  Laidlay  is  apt  to  play  his  iron  shots, 
as  in  his  most  frequent  moods  he  plays  all  his  shots, 
off  his  left  leg,  while  Duncan  plays  all  his  iron  shots 
with  a  remarkably  square  stance.  One  can  only  say 
that  these  two  are  unusual,  and  that  a  fairly  open 
stance  is  most  likely  to  suit  the  average  person.  At 
the  same  time,  the  knees  are  rather  more  bent,  and 
the  whole  attitude  slightly  more  stooping,  the  player 
is  decidedly  nearer  to  his  ball,  and  has  his  arms  closer 
to  his  side.  Also,  since  straightness  and  control  are 
to  be  his  particular  object,  he  should  almost  certainly 
hold  his  club  fairly  low  down  on  the  grip.  One  may 
hit  a  full  shot  very  comfortably  while  holding  the 
club  at  the  extreme  end  ;  even  if  the  resultant  sensa- 


WITH  IRON  CLUBS  87 

tion  be  that  of  the  tail  wagging  the  dog,  it  is  not  in 
driving  wholly  to  be  deprecated,  but  so  undisciplined 
a  state  of  things  will  not  do  with  iron  clubs. 

The  term  half-shot  conveys  the  impression  that 
the  player  is  to  take  back  his  club  just  half  the 
distance  that  he  would  take  it  back  in  a  full  shot. 
The  club  is  in  reality  taken  considerably  further  back 
than  this,  but  if  the  player  keeps  a  halfway  swing 
before  him  as  an  ideal,  he  will  at  any  rate  be  likely 
to  keep  his  club  well  under  control.  Now,  in  making 
this  curtailed  movement  there  is,  I  believe,  a  greater 
risk  even  than  there  was  in  driving  of  his  taking  his 
club  up  entirely  in  the  wrong  way.  Just  because 
it  may  seem  to  him  a  simpler  and  more  natural  move- 
ment, he  must  be  particularly  on  his  guard.  He 
may  well  return  for  a  moment  or  two  to  that  back- 
hand exercise  with  the  left  hand  ;  at  any  rate,  he 
must  take  great  care  that  his  wrists  and  the  face  of 
the  club  are  turning  away  from  the  ball  as  they 
should.  Having  started  the  club  up  on  the  way  it 
should  go,  he  must  stop  it  when  it  has  only  com- 
pleted part  of  its  course,  and  this  stopping  of  the 
club  at  the  right  place  is  one  of  the  hardest  achieve- 
ments in  golf.  Nearly  all  bad  iron  players,  which 
is  much  the  same  as  saying  nearly  all  golfers,  lose 
control  of  their  club  for  a  fraction  of  a  second. 
During  that  infinitesimal  moment  they  do  not  quite 
know  where  the  head  of  the  club  is  and  where  their 
own  hands  are,  and  it  is  this  momentary  loss  of  control, 
more  than  any  other  one  thing,  that  makes  them  bad 
iron  players.  In  order  to  avoid  this  pitfall  as  far  as 


88  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

may  be,  the  infant  iron  player  should  take  up  the 
club  distinctly  slowly,  and  make  something  of  a 
pause  before  the  club  begins  its  return  journey.  Also, 
he  must  keep  a  very  decided  grip  throughout  with 
the  right  hand  ;  not  a  grip  so  masterful  as  to  cause 
the  right  hand  to  overpower  the  left,  but  a  thoroughly 
firm  grip,  with  no  trace  of  that  relaxing  at  the  top  of 
the  stroke  which  was  allowed  him  in  his  full  swing. 
Control,  control,  and  again  control ;  that  is  the  thing 
to  preach  about  this  shot ;  and  all  the  time  the  club 
is  being  taken  back,  there  should  be  a  feeling  of 
tautness  and  tension  about  the  wrists  as  if  they  were 
determined  not  to  let  the  club  head  run  away  with 
them. 

Now  the  player  is  at  the  top  of  this  curtailed  swing, 
his  wrists  bent  well  under  the  club,  his  right  elbow 
close  to  his  side.  He  has  finished  the  pause  at  the 
top,  and  he  wants  to  come  down  and  hit  the  ball. 
As  in  the  drive,  the  return  journey  of  the  club  should 
be  made  almost  automatically  if  the  preliminaries 
have  been  correct,  but  the  club  must  not  be  allowed 
to  come  down  and  fling  itself  after  the  ball  with  quite 
the  glorious  abandon  of  the  driving  shot.  It  must 
come  down  more  slowly  and  discreetly  :  it  must  not 
finish  so  high  in  the  air  or  so  far  round  the  player's 
left  shoulder,  and — which  is  the  most  teasing  and 
deceitful  thing  of  all — it  must  not  sweep  the  ball 
away,  but  come  down  on  it  with  something  of  a  snap, 
with  a  very  palpable  hit. 

Sir  Walter  Simpson  has  said  that  we  must  not  expect 
a  mental  attitude  to  drive  a  golf-ball,  and  it  is,  on 


HALF  SHOT  WITH  IRON :  TOP  OF  SWING 

This  is  a  shot  that  probably  a  good  many  people  would  to-day  call 
a  push  shot,  but  half  shot  seems  a  simpler  and  better  description. 


[To  face  p.  88 


WITH  IRON  CLUBS  89 

the  whole,  one  of  the  profoundest  remarks  of  that 
depressing  teacher.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  so  hard 
to  indicate  in  words  any  really  tangible  difference 
between  a  swing  and  a  hit,  that  one  must  perforce 
rely  to  some  extent  on  the  mental  attitude  of  the 
player.  From  the  very  beginning  of  the  stroke,  even 
at  the  moment  when  he  is  turning  over  his  wrists 
so  carefully  and  conscientiously,  he  must  have  it  in 
the  back  of  his  mind  that  this  time  there  is  to  be  a 
good  deal  of  hit  about  his  swing.  This  mental  attitude 
will  not  by  itself  hit  the  ball,  but  combined  with  much 
practice  it  will  help  in  the  hitting.  At  any  rate,  when 
once  the  club  has  been  taken  back  properly,  I  have 
nothing  better  in  the  way  of  positive  advice  to  give. 
It  may  perhaps  be  added  that  the  right  hand  may  be 
allowed  to  play  a  fairly  prominent  part  in  bringing 
the  club  down,  so  as  to  get  a  little  extra  snap  into  the 
shot,  but  I  have  some  qualms  in  this  regard,  and  at 
any  rate  the  advice  must  be  adopted  very  circum- 
spectly. 

As  regards  this  stroke,  nothing  has  been  said  about 
the  pivoting  movement  of  the  body,  upon  which 
such  stress  is  always  laid  in  regard  to  driving,  and  in 
truth  I  think  the  less  said  about  it  the  better.  Of 
course  the  body  must  not  be  kept  wholly  rigid  and 
immobile ;  it  must  turn  to  some  extent,  and  so  must 
the  left  knee  and  the  left  foot.  But  now  that  the 
turning  movement  of  the  wrist  has,  let  us  hope,  become 
in  some  degree  a  second  nature,  the  turning  of  the 
rest  of  the  anatomy  will  follow  of  itself,  and,  in 
respect  to  this  stroke,  wants  restricting  rather  than 


90  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

encouraging.  The  steadier  and  stiller  the  body  and 
feet,  the  better  for  the  stroke. 

If  it  is  essential  not  to  move  the  body  forward,  it 
is  almost  equally  important  not  to  move  it  upwards. 
In  other  words,  the  player  must  never  '  unhinge  him- 
self at  the  small  of  the  back/  and  so  alter  the 
inclination  of  the  body.  Also,  he  cannot  possibly 
be  too  careful  in  keeping  his  eye  on  the  ball.  To  me, 
at  any  rate,  the  temptation  to  remove  the  eye  seems 
greater,  and  the  result  of  doing  so  more  fatal,  in  a 
half -shot  than  in  a  full  shot.  Moreover,  it  may  be 
added  that  in  playing  a  half-shot  it  is  very  difficult 
to  overdo  this  business  of  looking  at  the  ball.  In  a 
full  shot  it  is  possible  to  cramp  the  follow-through 
by  keeping  the  eye  too  resolutely  glued  on  the  ground 
after  the  ball  has  departed,  but  in  a  half-shot  there 
is  practically  no  such  risk.  The  worst  that  can 
happen  is  an  occasional  hook,  and  what  is  that  com- 
pared with  the  miseries  of  topping  and  socketing  ? 

It  only  remains  to  be  said,  that  since  the  shot  will 
be  used  at  various  distances,  it  is  necessary  to  be  able 
to  regulate  the  strength,  and  this  must  be  done  by 
regulating  the  distance  that  the  club  is  taken  back. 
There  is  a  temptation  to  do  it  in  quite  a  different 
way,  by  taking  back  the  club  a  uniform  distance, 
and  hitting  a  more  gentle  or  more  vehement  blow, 
as  the  case  may  be.  Nothing  could  be  more  fatal. 
The  gentleness  degenerates  into  flabbiness,  so  that  the 
club  falls  feebly  on  the  ball  and  never  gets  any  further. 
The  vehemence  inevitably  leads  to  putting  the  body 
into  the  stroke  at  the  wrong  time  and  in  the  wrong 


FINISH  OF  THE  HALF  SHOT  WITH  THE  IRON 


[To  face  p.  90 


WITH  IRON  CLUBS  91 

way ;  the  shot  is  hopelessly  mistimed  and  the  ball 
struck  more  often  than  not  upon  the  socket  of  the  club. 

A  propos  of  the  half-shot,  it  may  be  thought  that 
something  should  be  said  of  a  stroke  that  it  is  now 
very  fashionable  to  talk  about,  if  not  to  play,  namely 
the  push-shot.  I  confess  to  being  frightened  of  this 
shot.  Not  only  have  I  grave  doubts  about  its  being 
elementary  in  character,  but  I  am  not  at  all  certain 
of  anything  about  it ;  so  many  different  shots,  all  of 
them  good  and  useful,  are  now  called  by  this  name. 
In  some  cases  it  is  indistinguishable  to  my  eyes  from 
a  half-shot.  In  the  case  of  one  player,  Mr.  Mure 
Fergusson,  it  exactly  deserves  its  name.  With  a 
driving-mashie  or  driving-iron  Mr.  Fergusson  plays 
a  shot  which  is  a  push  and  nothing  else.  He  takes 
the  club  back  a  surprisingly  short  distance  with 
a  comparatively  rigid  wrist,  and  he  pushes  the  ball  a 
wonderful  distance.  It  is  a  magnificent  shot  in  a 
heavy  wind,  and  may  well  be  imitated  on  a  small 
scale,  but  it  is  idle  for  most  people  to  try  to  send  the 
ball  anything  like  so  far  as  does  Mr.  Fergusson. 

Mr.  de  Montmorency  has  a  famous  push-shot  which 
he  plays  with  a  very  short  cleek.  He  stands  with 
his  weight  well  forward,  and  the  hands  rather  in  front : 
he  takes  the  club  up  very  straight,  and  seems  to 
punch  very  hard  down  on  the  top  of  the  ball. 

The  player,  however,  who  has  really  made  the  fame 
of  the  push-shot  is  Harry  Vardon.  He  does  not  look 
particularly  like  Mr.  de  Montmorency  when  he  is 
playing  the  stroke,  but  there  is  something  of  the  same 
method  about  it  in  that  he,  too,  seems  to  come  rather 


92  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

down  on  the  ball.  I  cannot  do  better  than  quote 
this  master's  account  of  his  own  shot :  *  In  playing 
an  ordinary  cleek  shot  the  turf  is  grazed  before  the 
ball  in  the  usual  manner  ;  but  to  make  this  half  or 
push  shot  perfectly,  the  sight  should  be  directed  to 
the  centre  of  the  ball,  and  the  club  should  be  brought 
directly  on  to  it.  In  this  way  the  turf  should  be 
grazed  for  the  first  time  an  inch  or  two  on  the  far 
side  of  the  ball.'  In  these  words  is,  I  think,  compressed 
the  essence  of  the  Vardonian  push-shot,  and  as  played 
by  him  it  is,  no  doubt,  the  most  beautiful  and 
valuable  shot.  It  is  a  stroke  that  does  appear  to  be 
endued  with  some  uncanny  power  of  making  the  ball 
keep  an  undeviating  course,  and  it  may  be  especially 
valuable  to  those  who  feel  a  tendency  to  hook  their 
long  iron  shots.  By  all  means  let  the  player  try  to 
master  it  in  time,  but  at  first  he  had  better  attempt 
fewer  and  simpler  things.  When  he  comes  to 
mastering  this  push-shot,  he  will  be  out  of  the  nursery 
and  likely  to  despise  text-books. 


(6)  THE  MASHIE 

We  now  leave  the  iron  and  come  to  the  mashie, 
with  which  the  shorter  and  more  delicate  part  of 
approaching  is  to  be  done.  It  may  be  well  to  begin 
with  a  general  word  of  caution,  and  that  is,  there 
should  be  no  semblance  of  forcing  with  the  mashie. 
Distance  is  no  object  at  all,  and  if  there  is  any  real 
doubt  about  getting  up  with  a  mashie,  then  a  man 
should  stick  to  his  iron.  There  is  a  temptation  to 


WITH  IRON  CLUBS  93 

force  with  this  club  because  it  looks,  and  is,  easier 
to  get  the  ball  into  the  air  with  the  mashie,  but  no 
club  more  quickly  or  vindictively  resents  being  used 
outside  its  own  proper  sphere.  There  is,  too,  this  to 
be  remembered :  as  somebody  has  well  said,  you 
cannot  hit  the  ball  cleaner  than  clean.  Take  a  club 
outside  its  proper  distance  ;  then  fail,  as  you  often 
will  fail,  to  hit  the  ball  quite  cleanly,  and  you  must 
inevitably  be  very  short.  In  any  case,  nine  out  of 
every  ten  approach  shots  are  short ;  so  where  there 
is  a  doubt  the  more  powerful  of  two  clubs  almost  must 
be  the  right  one. 

For  practical  purposes  it  may  be  laid  down  that  a 
full  shot  should  not  be  played  with  a  mashie  at  all. 
We  may  begin  with  the  half-shot  as  previously 
described,  and  that  shot  may  be  made  the  foundation 
of  the  learner's  mashie  play.  If  he  has  a  considerable 
distance  to  cover,  and  there  is  no  bunker  close  in 
front  of  the  green,  so  that  the  ball  may  be  allowed  to 
run  fairly  freely  after  pitching,  he  cannot  better  the 
shot  which  has  just  been  inculcated  with  regard  to 
the  iron.  But  he  will  very  often  want  to  pitch  the 
ball  well  up  to  the  green,  so  that  it  shall  not  run  very 
far  on  alighting.  He  has  not  yet  reached  the  point 
when  a  very  abrupt  loft  or  a  very  dead  fall  are 
required :  he  is  at  a  kind  of  halfway-house  shot. 
How  is  he  to  differentiate  it  from  his  fundamental 
half -shot  ? 

Perhaps  the  answer  that  I  am  going  to  give  may 
seem  unorthodox ;  it  is  almost  certainly  contrary  to 
the  generally  sound  doctrine  that  the  back  swing 


94  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

is  the  important  thing.  Nevertheless,  I  should  say 
that  on  this  occasion  he  is  to  concentrate  his  mind 
on  what  is  going  to  happen  to  his  club  after  the  ball 
is  struck.  The  ball  has  to  be  picked  up  rather 
abruptly,  and  to  that  end  the  club  is  to  be  picked 
just  a  little  abruptly  too,  after  the  ball  has  been  hit. 
At  the  finish  of  the  stroke  the  club  ought  to  be 
pointing  more  or  less  straight  up  in  the  air  in  a 
perpendicular  position,  and,  which  is  important,  it 
is  to  be  guided  into  this  position  with  a  firm  wrist. 
The  requisite  finish  is  not  to  be  attained,  although 
there  is  some  temptation  to  do  so,  by  playing  with  a 
loose  and  '  floppy '  wrist ;  in  short,  by  trying  to  execute 
the  stroke  with  the  wrists  and  with  nothing  else. 
This  perpendicular  finish  will  ensure  the  ball  getting 
well  up  into  the  air,  and  so  dropping  comparatively 
dead. 

Now,  if  the  player  can  concentrate  his  mind  on  the 
ending  of  this  stroke,  there  will  probably  not  be 
much  amiss  with  his  back  swing.  The  fact  of  having 
to  pick  up  the  club  at  the  finish  will  naturally  make 
him  pick  it  up  rather  more  abruptly  than  usual  in 
the  back  swing.  '  Why  in  the  world/  some  one 
may  ask,  '  did  you  not  begin  by  telling  us  to  take  it 
back  in  this  way  ?  It  would  have  saved  much  talking.' 
The  answer  is  that  I  have  observed  that  when 
people  are  told  to  take  the  club  back  in  a  rather  more 
upright  manner  than  usual,  they  pick  it  up  as  if  they 
were  going  to  hammer  something  into  the  ground, 
and  deliver  a  quite  ineffectual  chopping  blow  upon 
the  turf.  It  will,  of  course,  never  do  to  be  afraid  of 


.*.«&>•  - 


ORDINARY  MASHIE  SHOT  WITHOUT  CUT  : 
TOP  OF  THE  STROKE 


[To  face  p.  94 


FINISH   OK  OKDINAKY  MASHIK  SH<>T 


(To  face  p.  9."> 


WITH  IKON  CLUBS  95 

taking  turf  with  this  shot,  for  it  is  the  natural  result 
of  the  more  upright  swing,  but  the  original  sin  of  an 
upright  back  swing  wants  no  direct  encouragement, 
and  so  it  is  well  for  this  once  to  proceed  indirectly, 
make  a  point  of  the  finish  and  let  the  back  swing 
adapt  itself  automatically. 

So  much  for  the  general  principles  of  the  shot. 
As  to  details,  the  stance  may  be  still  a  little  more  open, 
the  attitude  have  just  a  suspicion  more  of  crouching 
about  it.  Nothing  has  been  said  lately  on  the  matter 
of  grip,  the  player  having  been  left  to  settle  that  for 
himself.  If  he  has  adopted  the  overlapping  or  Vardon 
grip,  so  much  the  simpler ;  he  will  be  able  to  grip  the 
club  in  the  same  way  for  all  his  shots.  If,  on  the 
contrary,  he  grips  rather  with  the  palms  of  his  hands, 
it  may  be  suggested  to  him  that  in  these  more  delicate 
shots  it  is  wiser  to  have  a  more  delicate  grip,  and  to 
hold  as  much  as  possible  with  the  fingers.  The  club 
has  now  to  be  more  continuously  guided  than  in  the 
free  slash  of  the  full  swing,  and  if  the  player  have  a 
mind  to  hold  not  only  his  left  but  also  his  right  thumb 
down  the  shaft,  in  order  to  obtain  more  guiding  power, 
he  need  have  no  scruple  in  doing  so. 

I  keep  to  the  end  a  warning  which  Braid  believes  to 
be  the  most  important  that  can  be  given  in  regard  to 
pitching.  '  By  far  the  commonest  fault  in  pitching,' 
so  he  says,  '  is  the  raising  of  the  body  when  the  club 
is  being  raised  in  the  finishing  of  the  shot.'  Certainly 
I  know  the  feeling  of  lifting  up  the  body  only  too 
well,  and  so  no  doubt  do  many  other  people.  So  let 
us  avoid  it  as  we  would  the  very  devil. 


96  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

Now,  there  is  the  third  and  last  case  in  which  a  very 
steep  loft,  if  it  may  so  be  called,  and  a  very  dead 
fall  are  required,  and  here  the  player  comes  to  some- 
thing like  a  parting  of  the  ways.  He  may  take  a 
niblick,  or  a  very  much  lofted  mashie,  and  play  with 
it  the  straightforward  shot  just  described,  trusting 
to  the  loft  on  the  club  to  do  the  work  for  him.  That 
is,  in  a  sense,  the  course  of  a  coward,  though  it 
may  possibly  be  also  that  of  a  wise  man  who  knows 
his  own  limitations.  On  the  other  hand  he  may, 
with  reckless  bravery,  plunge  into  the  intricacies  of 
the  most  fascinating  and  delicate,  and  perhaps  also 
most  difficult  shot  in  golf,  the  approach  played  with 
cut. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  way  out  by  means  of  a 
niblick  or  a  much  lofted  mashie  was  regarded  with 
more  suspicion  than  it  is  now  ;  it  was  thought  almost 
disgraceful.  To-day  an  enormous  number  of  golfers, 
some  of  them  very  good  golfers,  avail  themselves  of 
it,  and  never  tackle  the  cutting  shot  at  all. 

My  own  impression  is  that  for  the  middle-aged  and 
rotund  person  of  limited  possibilities  and  ambitions, 
it  is  well  to  leave  the  cutting  shot  alone  and  learn,  as 
far  as  may  be,  to  hit  cleanly  and  truly  with  the 
niblick,  leaving  the  rest  to  heaven  and  the  club  itself. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  man  who  professes  or  hopes 
to  be  a  good  golfer  has  a  weak  joint  in  his  harness  if  he 
is  not  more  or  less  a  master  of  the  cutting  stroke. 
The  professionals  are  one  and  all  masters  of  it ;  not 
so  many  amateurs  who  are  rated  as  scratch  or  better. 
The  young  player  of  to-day  is  apt  to  pursue  the  line 


WITH  IRON  CLUBS  97 

of  least  resistance  and  take  to  his  big,  saucer-faced 
niblick.  Often  he  is  very  good  with  it,  but  I  do  not 
observe  that  he  is  so  sound  a  pitcher  as,  let  us  say, 
Mr.  Ball,  Mr.  Laidlay,  Mr.  Hilton  or  Mr.  Hutchinson, 
who  learned  their  golf  in  a  sterner  school.  When  the 
ground  is  hard  and  baked  and  the  ball  will  not  grip  the 
turf,  he  is  a  very  great  deal  worse.  Niblick  or  no 
niblick,  his  ball  bounds  gaily  away  over  the  hard 
ground,  and — I  speak  with  the  most  sincere  fellow- 
feeling — he  has  not  the  means  of  making  it  stop. 
Wherefore  let  him  go  out  and  watch  the  professionals, 
and  learn  to  play  the  shot  with  cut  against  the  day 
when  it  may  be  necessary.  It  is  a  stroke  that  hardly 
comes  under  the  head  of  quite  elementary  instruction, 
but  it  assuredly  cannot  be  passed  over. 

There  are  in  golf  certain  catchwords,  familiar 
expressions  on  the  links — call  them  what  you  will — 
which  are  sometimes  more  illuminating  than  pages 
of  laboured  description.  We  sometimes  hear  a  man 
after  playing  an  approach  shot  explain  that  he  has 
1  cut  the  legs  clean  from  under  it '  ;  it,  in  this  case, 
being  the  ball.  When  he  says  that,  he  is  certainly 
not  directly  praising  himself,  because  he  means  that 
his  ball  has  fallen  far  short  of  the  mark,  but  he  is 
perhaps  obliquely  lauding  the  tremendous  cut  he 
succeeded  in  imparting  to  the  ball.  At  any  rate,  that 
expression  gives  rather  a  good  word-picture  of  the 
cut  shot ;  it  enables  the  learner  to  visualise  the  stroke. 
To  me  at  least  it  conveys  the  impression  of  the  club 
head  cutting  right  underneath  the  ball  with  a 
'  slithering  '  sidelong  motion.  That  is  what  has  got 

G 


98  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

to  happen  ;  the  club  face — and  I  presuppose  the  club 
to  be  a  mashie — has  got  to  hit  a  glancing  blow  across 
the  ball,  and  it  has  got  to  get  well  beneath  it.  So  the 
club  has  got  to  be  taken  out  somewhat  to  the  right 
on  the  way  back,  and  is  then  to  return  a  little  across 
the  line  of  flight  and  finish  to  the  left. 

This  is  an  action  which  can  very  easily  be  exag- 
gerated. If  the  club  is  taken  far  out  to  the  right, 
the  arms  go  too  far  away  from  the  body  ;  they  thus 
lose  the  necessary  support  of  the  body,  and  the 
whole  performance  becomes  disjointed  and  uncertain. 
To  obviate  this  let  the  player  stand  still  more  open, 
so  that  he  is  to  a  considerable  extent  facing  in  the 
direction  in  which  the  ball  is  to  be  hit,  and  let  him 
further  turn  the  face  of  his  mashie  slightly  out  to  the 
right.  Then  let  him  lift  the  club  up  in  his  natural 
manner  for  a  short  mashie  shot.  He  will  find  that  his 
attitude  naturally  causes  him  to  take  the  club  out 
somewhat  to  the  right,  as  if  to  play  across  the  ball, 
and  that  this  cross-cutting  action  needs  very  little, 
if  any,  artificial  aid.  Similarly  the  club  will  come 
inwards  and  finish  rather  to  the  left  of  the  body  on 
its  return  journey.  The  swing  is  still,  of  course,  to 
be  of  a  distinctly  upright  character,  and  the  club  is 
to  be  picked  up  rather  quickly  after  the  ball  is  struck. 

Such,  as  far  as  I  can  explain  them,  are  the  elements 
of  the  shot,  but  it  is  essentially  one  that  can  best 
be  learned  by  watching  a  good  professional  play  it. 
If  we  observe  a  professional  playing  this  stroke,  there 
is  one  thing  in  particular  that  we  notice  :  just  before 
the  club  reaches  the  ball  he  seems,  as  it  were,  to 


MASHIE  SHOT  WITH  CUT :  TOP  OF  THE  STROKE 


[To  face  p.  98 


FINISH  OF  MASHIE  SHOT  WITH  CUT 


(TofacSp.  99 


WITH  IRON  CLUBS  99 

increase  the  speed  at  which  the  club  head  is  travelling, 
and  to  draw  it  quickly  across  towards  his  left  foot.  I 
should  like  to  say  that  he  did  it  with  a  quick  little 
flick,  if  such  an  expression  did  not  give  the  idea  of 
jerkiness.  There  must  not  be  a  jerk,  but  at  the  same 
time  the  shot  must  be  played  with  great  firmness  and 
crispness  ;  the  ball  must  be  hit  comparatively  hard, 
not  stroked  in  a  tender,  half-hearted  sort  of  way. 

In  the  Badminton  volume  Mr.  Hutchinson  indicated 
an  alternative  method  in  which  the  right  hand  is  held 
quite  loose,  and  the  club  is  allowed  to  turn  on  the 
web  at  the  base  of  the  thumb.  It  is  possible  thus 
to  get  an  extraordinarily  vertical  swing,  and  Mr. 
Hutchinson  can  use  the  shot,  not  only  with  deadly 
effect,  but  with  certainty.  I  do  not  know,  however, 
of  any  other  good  players  who  play  the  shot  quite 
in  this  way,  and  for  ordinary  people  I  am  nearly 
sure  it  is  altogether  too  difficult.  Its  most  distin- 
guished exponent  himself  admits  that  it  is  '  only,  if 
ever,  to  be  attempted  when  in  great  straits.' 


(c)  THE  RUN-UP 

So  much  for  getting  the  ball  into  the  air.  There 
remains  the  task,  which  at  first  sight  would  appear  to 
be  a  great  deal  easier,  of  making  it  run  along  the  ground. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  it  is  in  fact  easier,  but  that 
does  not  seem  to  be  the  opinion  of  the  great  bulk  of 
work-a-day  golfers.  There  is  no  shot  at  the  prospect 
of  which  they  so  palpably  flinch  as  the  run-up.  They 
possess  very  often  just  two  methods  of  hitting  the 


100  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

ball,  the  full  swing  and  the  pitching  shot.  Anything 
outside  these  two  strokes  they  deem  it  apparently 
not  only  impossible  to  play,  but  in  the  highest  degree 
presumptuous  to  attempt.  Why,  it  is  difficult  to  say, 
but  the  fact  remains.  Let  there  be  a  hurricane 
blowing,  let  there  be  a  steep  bank  in  front  of  a 
plateau  green,  let  there  be  no  bunkers  within  a 
hundred  miles,  and  still  they  will  insist  on  cocking  the 
ball  up  into  the  air  with  a  lofted  club,  so  that  it  will 
either  be  blown  to  perdition  by  the  wind,  or,  if  it  alight 
on  the  plateau,  will  never  succeed  in  staying  there. 

This  is  rather  violent  language,  and  it  may  be 
taken  as  showing  that  I  '  believe  in  running  up/  or 
'  do  not  believe  in  pitching.'  I  hope  not,  because,  if 
so,  then  I  am  very  effectually  writing  myself  down 
an  ass.  No  sensible  person  can  be  a  thick-and-thin 
adherent  of  either  stroke,  because  there  must  be  some 
occasions  when  it  is  obviously  right  to  run  up,  and 
others  when  it  is  an  equally  obvious  duty  to  pitch. 

There  are,  however,  occasions  in  plenty  when  there 
is  no  very  definite  right  or  wrong  ;  when  Taylor,  or 
Vardon,  or  Mr.  Hilton,  for  example,  would  probably 
pitch  the  ball,  while  Braid  or  Andrew  Kirkaldy  or 
Mr.  Low  would  elect  to  run  it.  As  to  these  dubious 
cases,  it  is  likely  enough  that  if  one  has  the  pitching 
gifts  of  a  Taylor,  pitching  is  the  most  profitable, 
because,  on  the  whole,  less  fearful  things  can  happen 
to  the  ball  in  the  air  than  on  the  ground.  But  I  very 
much  doubt  whether  the  average  golfer  will  ever 
learn  to  pitch  well  enough  to  play  an  essentially 
pitching  game.  I  think  he  is  much  more  likely  to 


RUNNING  UP  WITH  THE  IRON 


[To  face  p.  101 


WITH  IRON  CLUBS  101 

attain  to  a  reasonable  measure  of  steadiness  in  playing 
the  running  shot,  if  only  because  the  run-up  shot 
possesses  this  negative  virtue — that  it  is  harder  to  make 
a  complete  and  hopeless  foozle  of  it.  At  any  rate, 
it  is  every  golfer's  duty  to  learn  to  play  the  run-up 
merely  for  those  occasions  when  it  will  clearly  be  the 
right  stroke  for  him  to  play.  These  occasions  are, 
moreover,  becoming  more  and  more  frequent,  since 
the  tendency  of  modern  golfing  architecture  is  to  do 
away  with  cross  bunkers  in  front  of  the  hole,  and  to 
perch  many  of  the  holes  upon  plateau  greens. 

The  stroke  can  be  played  with  a  variety  of  clubs, 
but  is  most  often  perhaps  played  with  the  club  having 
the  odious  name  of  '  jigger/  or  with  the  approaching 
cleek,  which  is  much  the  same  thing  with  a  pleasanter 
name  and  a  hump  on  its  back.  Without  launching 
into  reckless  extravagance  in  the  club-maker's  shop, 
the  essentials  of  the  stroke  can  be  comfortably  acquired 
with  the  iron.  In  its  very  shortest  form  it  is  little 
more  than  a  prolonged  putt,  in  most  instances  it  is  a 
great  deal  more,  but  in  any  case  it  is  no  bad  thing  for 
the  learner  to  keep  the  action  of  putting  in  his  mind's 
eye.  It  is  another  case  in  which  I  venture  to  think 
that  a  mental  attitude  may  do  something  towards  the 
hitting  of  a  ball.  If  the  player  has  putting  in  his 
mind  he  will  probably  do  one  or  two  of  the  things 
that  he  ought  to  do  :  he  will  stand  fairly  close  to  his 
ball  and  well  over  it,  and  he  will  keep  his  club  moving 
close  to  the  ground.  If  he  does  those  two  things  it 
is  something  gained,  but  it  is  not  quite  enough.  He 
must — and  this  is  important — stand  with  his  weight 


102  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

forward  on  the  left  foot,  the  ball  being  fairly  far  back 
towards  his  right  foot,  and  this  attitude  will  naturally 
bring  the  hands  well  forward,  and  somewhat  in  front 
of  the  head  of  the  club.  Further — and  this  rather 
less  emphatically — the  right  hand  should  be  held  well 
over  the  club.  This  will  help  not  only  in  keeping  the 
ball  down,  but  also  in  getting  a  horizontal  swing  of 
the  club,  and  that  is  what  is  wanted — a  rather  short, 
low,  flat  swing  of  the  club,  well  round  the  legs.  The 
right  wrist  should  turn  over  just  after  the  ball  is  hit ; 
indeed,  it  should  be  getting  ready  to  turn  over  just 
before  the  ball  is  hit.  If  the  club  is  taken  back  in 
the  right  way,  this  turn  over  of  the  wrist  will  come  in 
a  measure  naturally ;  but  it  may  be  encouraged  a 
little  artificially,  because  it  is  of  such  great  value  in 
approaching  any  kind  of  plateau.  The  ball  that  is 
struck  without  the  wrist  turning  will  falter  and  fade 
away  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  but  one  hit  with  the 
action  that  has  been  well  described  as  that  of  locking 
a  door,  is  imbued  thereby  with  additional  vitality, 
and  will  go  on  without  so  much  as  a  stagger,  clambering 
up  the  hill  with  the  utmost  gallantry. 

About  the  whole  stroke  there  is  to  be  an  air  of 
comparative  stiffness  and  rigidity.  The  wrists  must 
be  kept  particularly  firm  and  taut  in  taking  back  the 
club,  and  the  whole  body  is  to  be  rigidly  under  control. 
Perhaps,  as  the  club  comes  through,  the  body  may 
go  forward  a  little,  but  this  is  not  to  be  too  much 
encouraged,  for  the  hands  are  naturally  well  forward 
and  the  ball  rather  far  back,  and  any  ill-timed  body 
movement  will  infallibly  be  disastrous. 


D 


FINISH  OF  RUN-UP  SHOT 


[To  face  p.  102 


WITH  IRON  CLUBS  103 

Just  because  of  the  great  risk  of  lurching  forward 
with  the  body  the  player  should,  at  first  at  any  rate, 
refrain  from  trying  to  run  the  ball  up  from  a  long 
distance.  Let  him  play  the  shot  well  within  the 
compass  of  his  powers,  and  I  solemnly  declare  it  to  be 
an  easy  shot,  easier  at  any  rate  than  a  pitch.  But 
to  try  to  hit  the  ball  really  far  and  hard  with  so  cur- 
tailed a  movement  of  the  club  is  to  be  in  great  danger 
of  moving  that  body  about  which  I  talk  so  everlastingly. 
Would  that  we  had  only  astral  bodies  :  we  should  be 
far  better  golfers. 

There  is  one  more  stroke,  or  rather  one  group  of 
strokes,  that  should  perhaps  be  mentioned.  It 
consists  of  those  little  shots,  chips  or  runs-up  as  the 
case  may  be,  which  have  to  be  played  when  the  ball 
is  within  quite  a  short  distance  of  the  edge  of  the 
putting-green.  In  a  sense  they  are  only  abbreviated 
versions  of  the  longer  pitching  and  running  shots, 
but  I  am  tempted  to  make  one  remark  about  them. 
Most  bad  players  play  these  shots  particularly  vil- 
lainously, and  they  seem  to  me  to  have  less  idea  than 
usual  of  how  to  control  the  club.  It  runs  away  with 
them  altogether,  so  that  they  lack  both  sureness  and 
delicacy  of  touch,  the  two  things  most  requisite. 
My  recipe,  for  what  it  is  worth,  is  the  adoption  of  a 
rather  grovelling  attitude,  and  the  holding  of  the 
club  quite  low  down  on  the  shaft.  It  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  that  these  little  shots  should  be 
played  crisply  and  decidedly,  and  a  reasonably  short 
grip  of  the  club  makes  it  much  easier  to  hit  the  ball 
fairly  hard.  When  the  ball  can  run  the  whole  way 


104  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

and  there  is  no  pitching  necessary,  it  can  be  stroked 
gently  up  to  the  hole  after  the  manner  of  a  putt ;  but 
when  it  is  necessary  to  pitch  the  ball  ever  so  little, 
crispness  of  hitting  is  essential,  and  anything  that 
makes  it  easier  to  hit  the  ball  hard  is  worth  considering. 
I  also  incline  to  think  that  many  people  put  the 
ball  too  far  back  in  playing  their  little  chips,  and 
would  do  better  if  they  had  the  ball  well  forward, 
and  played  rather  off  the  left  leg.  It  seems  easier 
thus  to  get  the  ball  into  the  air  by  the  natural  loft  on 
the  face  of  the  club  and  without  using  any  artificial 
means.  That,  however,  is  a  suggestion  founded  on 
purely  personal  experience. 


CHAPTER  V 
IN  HAZARDS 

OF  any  beginner  in  golf,  however  eminent  he  may 
be  in  other  walks  of  life,  it  may  be  assumed,  and  that 
without  insulting  him,  that  he  will  sooner  or  later 
get  into  a  bunker.  Even  if  he  never  make  a  bad  shot, 
a  large  assumption,  he  will,  in  these  days  of  far-flying 
balls,  occasionally  drive  his  tee-shot  so  far  as  to  be 
caught  in  the  bunker  that  is  meant  to  trap  the  second 
shot  of  weaker  vessels.  Therefore  he  will  be  well 
advised  to  learn  the  art  of  getting  out  of  it  as  quickly 
as  possible,  and  he  is  to  consider  that  it  is  an  art,  and 
not  merely  an  affair  of  brute  strength  and  good  fortune. 
Most  bad  golfers  give  themselves  up  for  lost  when 
their  ball  disappears  into  a  bunker  ;  and  not  without 
reason,  for  they  are  singularly  inept  in  extracting  it. 
Yet  to  have  a  reasonable  hope  of  getting  out  of  a 
reasonably  bad  bunker  in  a  single  shot  should  not  be 
too  lofty  an  ambition  for  any  ordinary  mortal  who 
will  take  the  trouble  to  learn  to  play  the  stroke  properly. 
To  attain  to  this  comparatively  modest  degree  of 
skill  is  to  gain  enormously  in  confidence  and  so  to 
strengthen  the  whole  game,  for  a  man  is  not  nearly 
so  likely  to  put  his  ball  into  a  bunker  if  he  believes 
that  he  can  get  it  out  again.  A  paralysing  con- 


105 


106  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

sciousness  of  impotence  with  the  niblick  is  one  of  the 
approacher's  worst  foes  and  the  bunker's  best  friends. 
Balls  that  lie  in  bunkers,  by  which  it  is,  I  hope, 
superfluous  to  add,  I  mean  sand  bunkers,  may  be 
primarily  divided  into  two  classes,  those  that  lie 
heavy  and  those  that  lie  clean.  The  former  are  taken 
first  because  they  are  the  more  frequently  met  with, 
and  also  because  they  alone  demand  a  stroke  which 
may  be  termed  sui  generis.  By  a  ball  lying  heavy 
is  meant  one  that  has  partially  burrowed  its  way  into 
the  sand,  that  is  lying,  in  fact,  more  or  less  cupped, 
and  the  great  point  to  remember  about  such  a  ball 
is  that  the  golfer's  whole  duty  is  to  get  it  out — a 
contemptibly  short  distance  maybe — but  out.  The 
first  thing  to  do,  then,  is  to  take  a  niblick,  a  niblick 
with  a  very  strong  stiff  shaft  and  broad  heavy  head, 
liberally  dowered  with  loft,  and  to  take  it  in  a  firm 
determined  grasp.  The  shot  that  has  now  to  be 
played  is  unlike  any  other  in  the  game  of  golf,  in 
that  the  one  thing  to  be  avoided  is  the  hitting  of  the 
ball.  The  ball  is  to  be  removed  from  the  bunker  by 
means  of  an  explosion,  and  the  player  merely  resembles 
the  gentleman  of  anarchist  proclivities  who  lights  the 
fuse.  The  explosion  is  caused  by  the  club  descending 
forcibly  into  the  sand  close  behind  the  ball,  and  the 
ensuing  commotion  hoists  the  ball  more  or  less 
straight  up  into  the  air,  to  fall  no  great  distance  away, 
but,  let  us  hope,  upon  the  turf ;  limp  and  lifeless, 
perhaps,  but  safe.  The  most  important  point  of  all 
is  to  keep  the  eye  rigidly  upon  the  particle  of  sand 
which  it  is  intended  to  hit — which  is  an  extremely 


IN  HAZARDS  107 

difficult  thing  to  do — and  not,  in  the  course  of  the 
stroke,  to  let  the  eye  glide  forward  towards  the  ball 
itself,  which  is  a  fatally  easy  thing  to  do.  As  to 
exactly  how  far  behind  the  ball  the  club  is  to  be 
plunged  into  the  sand,  it  would  perhaps  be  rash  to 
dogmatise.  It  may  be  some  two  inches,  it  may 
conceivably  be  more,  and  it  may  certainly  sometimes 
be  less.  For  one  thing  a  great  deal  must  depend  on 
the  nature  of  the  sand,  which  varies  enormously,  not 
only  with  different  courses  but  with  the  weather. 
At  Woking,  for  instance,  in  a  wet  winter,  the  sand  in 
the  bunkers  becomes  of  a  consistency  only  to  be 
compared  to  pea-soup,  and  to  cleave  through  any  appre- 
ciable quantity  of  it  requires  a  strength  perfectly 
gigantic.  Wet,  hard  sand,  moreover,  must  necessarily 
require  different  treatment  to  sand  which  is  dry  and 
powdery.  In  ancient  days  a  player  was  allowed  to 
make  a  preliminary  trial  of  the  sand  with  his  niblick 
in  order  to  test  its  consistency,  and  I  have  heard 
one  venerable  and  scientific  niblick  player  lament 
that  this  is  so  no  longer,  since  a  greater  chance  was 
thus  afforded  to  the  clever  player  to  make  a  really 
clever  shot.  However,  it  is  not  allowed  nowadays, 
and  so  we  must  just  make  the  most  of  our  powers  of 
observation. 

So  much  for  the  first  great  point.  The  second  is 
that  the  stroke  is  to  be  far  more  of  an  up  and  down 
character  than  any  other  ;  indeed,  it  is  not  to  be  very 
far  removed  from  the  common  chop.  One  of  the 
gravest  and  commonest  forms  of  original  sin  is  the 
lifting  of  the  club  up  too  straight,  with  the  almost 


108  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

necessary  corollary  of  bringing  it  too  straight  down. 
Yet,  curiously  enough,  when  the  golfer  is  told  to  give 
full  rein  to  his  sinful  proclivities  and  take  up  the  club 
almost  as  straight  as  he  can,  he  appears  incapable 
of  doing  so  ;  either  he  does  not  in  his  heart  believe 
what  his  instructor  tells  him,  or  else,  having 
laboriously  learnt  a  flat  swing,  he  cannot  suddenly 
convert  it  again  into  an  upright  one.  Whatever  the 
reason,  there  are  hundreds  of  players  who  are  practi- 
cally helpless  when  their  ball  lies  near  even  a  moderately 
steep  face  of  a  bunker  ;  they  beat  the  ball  again  and 
again  against  the  wall  of  its  prison,  simply  because 
they  will  not  or  cannot  come  down  straight  enough 
into  the  sand  to  make  the  ball  rise  sufficiently 
vertically.  Therefore  it  is  essential  to  go  straight 
up  and  come  straight  down,  and  let  this  manoeuvre  be 
executed  with  all  the  freedom  and  vigour  that  is 
consistent  with  a  reasonable  measure  of  control  and 
the  keeping  of  the  eyes  glued  to  that  particle  of  sand. 
This  word  of  warning  should  be  added  :  the  bunkered 
one  must  not  think  that  his  whole  duty  has  been  done 
when  he  has  brought  his  club  down  into  the  sand. 
He  must  not  let  it  remain  there,  but  must  take  it 
through  to  the  best  of  his  ability.  This  following 
through  is  a  very  important  part  of  niblick  play,  and, 
just  because  it  appears  so  superfluous,  we  are  particu- 
larly apt  to  forget  it.  The  explosion  has  to  take 
place  under  the  ball  and  not  merely  behind  it. 

I  have  used  the  word  chop,  but  I  recognise  that 
herein  lurks  some  danger  of  a  misunderstanding, 
because  the  art  of  chopping  rather  implies  that  the 


:•:  l\ 


PLAYING  AN  'EXPLOSIVE'  SHOT  OUT  OF  HEAVY  SAND 


[To  face  p.  108 


AN   'KXI'LOSIVK'  SHOT  WKI.I.  OI'T  ON  To  THK  (illKKN 


IN  HAZARDS  109 

chopper  should  stand  well  over  the  choppee,  as  the 
executioner  might  stand  over  his  victim.  Now,  with 
the  niblick  experience  shows  that  this  will  not  do. 
The  player  must  stand  well  away  behind  his  ball, 
preferably  with  rather  an  open  stance  and  having 
the  ball  opposite  his  left  foot ;  he  may  also  keep  the 
right  shoulder  down  and  the  left  shoulder  up,  an 
attitude  which  seems  natural  to  one  about  to  perform 
the  action  of  heaving  or  hoisting. 

Little  more  can  usefully  be  added  to  this  description 
of  the  volcanic  shot,  as  it  has  been  called  ;  practice 
must  do  the  rest.  It  must  not  be  imagined,  however, 
that  this  shot  is  only  to  be  employed  when  the  ball 
lies  more  or  less  heavy.  It  is  generally  to  be  used, 
however  well  and  cleanly  the  ball  may  lie,  whenever 
the  cliff  of  the  bunker  is  so  near  that  any  stroke 
wherein  the  club  hits  the  ball  and  not  the  sand  would 
fail  to  make  it  rise  sufficiently  abruptly.  Indeed, 
whenever  the  cliff  is  anything  but  exceedingly  low 
and  there  are  desperate  circumstances  to  call  for 
desperate  measures,  it  is  by  far  the  safest  shot  for  any 
one,  save  the  expert,  to  employ.  Even  if  the  ball 
lie  clean  and  the  cliff  of  the  bunker  is  a  negligible 
quantity,  this  stroke  may  be  infinitely  useful.  It 
sometimes  happens  that  a  ball  lies  in  a  bunker,  and 
yet  is  but  a  few  yards  from  the  hole,  so  that  the 
player's  object  is  to  make  the  ball  just  pitch  out  of 
the  bunker,  and  fall  as  dead  as  possible  on  alighting. 
To  hit  the  ball  itself,  however  cleanly  and  accurately, 
will  impart  a  certain  amount  of  run,  but  the  explosive 
stroke,  skilfully  played  with  a  nice  judgment  of  the 


110  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

amount  of  sand  to  be  taken,  can  be  made  to  drop 
the  ball  as  dead  as  a  stone.  It  may  be  worth  while 
to  add,  as  a  special  word  of  caution,  that  for  some 
mysterious  reason  the  cleaner  the  ball  lies  the  more 
difficult  it  is  to  keep  the  eye  upon  a  spot  behind  it 
instead  of  on  the  ball  itself.  Indeed,  it  is  not  unusual 
to  hear  a  man  who  has  made  the  saddest  mess  of  a 
niblick  shot  attribute  his  failure  to  the  fact  that  his 
ball  lay  too  well  in  the  bunker — a  confession  of 
weakness,  it  is  true,  but  of  a  very  common  and  human 
weakness. 

However,  all  bunkers  are  not  close  to  the  green  ; 
more  often  than  not  the  player  would  like  to  hit  the 
ball  out  as  far  as  he  possibly  can,  and  then  a  clean- 
lying  ball  represents  a  direct  intervention  of  Provi- 
dence, to  be  taken  the  fullest  advantage  of.  Much 
must,  of  course,  depend  on  the  proximity  and  steep- 
ness of  the  face  ;  that  has  already  been  emphasised ; 
and  so  for  our  present  purpose  it  may  be  assumed 
that  the  face  will  not  interfere  with  a  fairly  low- 
flying  ball,  and  the  player  may  take  almost  any 
club  he  has  a  mind  to.  Account  should  be  taken 
of  the  exact  circumstances  :  it  may  be  wise  to  take 
no  risks  at  all,  or  things  may  have  come  to  such  a 
desperate  pass,  that  the  only  hope  lies  in  taking  a 
big  risk  and  the  only  club  that  will  reach  the  green. 
There  is  just  this  to  be  added  on  this  point  of  tactics  : 
before  making  his  decision  the  player  might  well  put 
the  question  to  himself,  *  Which  is  the  more  likely, 
that  I  should  successfully  reach  the  green  with  the 
longer  club  or  that,  having  played  short,  I  should 


IN  HAZARDS  111 

either  lay  the  ball  dead  with  my  pitch  or  hole  a  long 
putt  ?  ' 

I  propose  to  leave  out  of  the  question  the  taking  of 
brasseys  and  cleeks  ;  these  heroic  expedients  are  not 
for  the  elementary  student,  who  may  lay  it  down  as 
a  sound  rule  of  conduct  that  the  straight-faced  or 
driving-iron  is  the  most  ambitious  club  that  he 
should  ever  employ  in  a  bunker,  however  tempting 
the  lie.  To  hit  a  long  shot  out  of  sand  is  not  an  easy 
thing  to  do  ;  only  a  slight  inaccuracy  will  mar  the 
stroke,  and  much  confidence  is  required  ;  wherefore, 
if  the  player  is  in  any  real  doubt  between  two  clubs, 
he  will  do  well  to  take  the  more  lofted  of  the  two, 
since  a  lofted  face  is  a  great  begetter  of  courage. 
There  is  really  more  to  be  said  about  these  tactical 
considerations  than  about  the  stroke  itself.  As  to 
the  latter,  what  is  there  to  say  in  eifect  save  that  the 
player  should  apply  his  mind  to  swinging  easily, 
and  to  keeping  his  eye  upon  the  ball  with  a  greater 
ferocity  than  usual,  should  that  be  possible. 

Yet  maybe  something  special  ought  to  be  said  about 
a  stroke  which  is  more  often  and  more  hopelessly 
foozled  by  the  amateur  than  any  other,  the  little 
chipping  shot  whereby  the  clean-lying  ball  is  flicked 
out  of  a  bunker  for  quite  a  short  distance.  This  is 
a  stroke  over  which  nearly  every  professional  has  a 
wonderful  mastery,  playing  it  indeed  so  easily  and 
so  surely  as  to  make  one  think  that  it  cannot 
really  be  very  difficult,  if  the  player  can  but  take  his 
courage  in  both  hands.  That  is  what  is  wanted  above 
all  other  qualities — courage,  for  the  shot,  though  a 


112  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

delicate  one,  must  be  played  firmly  and  crisply.  Mr. 
Maxwell,  indeed,  has  a  wonderful  way  of  stroking 
the  ball  gently  out  of  a  bunker,  which  his  admirers 
call,  I  believe,  his  '  pussy-cat '  stroke,  but  it  is  a 
stroke  of  genius  not  to  be  attempted  by  ordinary 
people  ;  with  them  the  least  tendency  towards  too 
great  gentleness  of  hitting  ends  invariably  in  the 
most  ignominious  fluff.  This  last  is  an  onomatopoeic 
word  requiring  surely  no  explanation  !  The  profes- 
sional plays  the  shot,  as  he  plays  all  his  pitches,  with 
cut,  and  he  plays  it  beautifully ;  but  laying  this  for 
a  moment  on  one  side,  there  is  much  to  be  done  by 
taking  a  sufficiently  lofted  club  and  keeping  the  eye 
on  the  ball.  There  is  a  dreadful  temptation,  more 
acute  than  in  any  other  stroke,  to  lift  the  body  in  the 
act  of  striking  the  ball,  and  it  must  be  resisted  to  the 
death.  I  have  once  been  given,  as  a  '  tip  '  for  the 
curing  of  this  habit,  the  advice  to  keep  the  weight 
well  forward  on  the  left  foot.  Very  likely  there  is 
something  in  it,  as  there  is  in  many  other  tips,  if  it 
is  not  overdone  ;  but  if  the  weight  is  to  be  kept  forward, 
then  the  ball  must  be  very  well  forward  too  ;  other- 
wise the  player  will  be  apt  to  bring  his  club  down 
upon  the  top  of  the  ball,  with  results  too  painful  to 
describe. 

Finally,  since  all  balls  that  lie  in  bunkers  cannot 
be  put  into  one  of  two  hard  and  fast  categories,  there 
is  the  ball  that  lies  betwixt  and  between — not 
perfectly  clean  and  yet  not  really  heavy.  From  such 
lies  as  these  the  most  surprising  things  are  apt  to 
occur.  *  Great  heavens,  I  never  thought  it  would 


IN  HAZARDS  113 

come  out  as  clean  as  that,'  cries  the  astonished  victim 
as  the  ball  flies  like  an  arrow  from  the  [bow  into 
impenetrable  whins  some  fifty  yards  beyond  the  hole. 
The  distance  is  in  fact  very  difficult  to  regulate,  and 
it  is  equally  easy  either  to  go  too  far  or,  by  means  of 
a  feeble  fluffy  blow,  to  go  not  nearly  far  enough. 
So  many  and  different  may  be  the  circumstances  that 
only  one  definite  piece  of  advice  can  be  given,  that  is, 
the  shot  should  be  played  with  a  heavy  club.  A 
light  niblick  may  be  of  some  service,  though  not  so 
good  as  a  heavy  one,  for  the  volcanic  shot,  and  also 
for  flicking  away  the  ball  that  lies  quite  clean,  but 
when  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  half-shot  is  required 
it  is  practically  useless.  The  least  little  bit  of  inter- 
vening sand  will  take  all  the  firmness  out  of  the  shot, 
and  a  deliberate  firmness  is  here  essential. 

In  addition  to  bunkers  there  are  hazards  of  such 
infinite  variety,  that  it  is  only  possible  to  indicate 
the  more  common,  such  as  whins,  bent  grass,  and 
rushes.  With  these  may  be  classed  heather,  although 
it  has  been  expressly  decided  that  heather  is  not  a 
hazard,  and  unpleasantly  long  grass.  As  to  these 
last  two,  however,  save  that  the  victim  will  have  the 
advantage  of  grounding  his  club,  his  predicament 
will  be  every  whit  as  painful  and  his  method  of 
extracting  himself  to  all  intents  and  purposes  the 
same. 

There  are  degrees  in  the  badness  of  a  lie  even  in  the 
spiky  heart  of  a  whin  bush,  but  as  regards  all  the 
substances  before  enumerated,  when  the  ball  has 

H 


114  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

embedded  itself  therein  with  a  genuine  malignity, 
there  is  little  for  it  but  the  4  common  thud ' ;  that 
is  on  the  assumption  that  the  advice  to  keep  some 
control  over  the  temper  is  superfluous.  As  in  the 
case  of  a  bunker,  the  first  great  object  is  to  get  out, 
and  to  take  any  club  but  a  niblick  is  the  height  of 
folly,  unless  success  is  reasonably  certain.  The  club, 
too,  must  be  held  very  firmly,  for  it  is  terribly  apt  to 
twist  in  the  hand,  and  it  is  worth  while  remarking 
that,  more  especially  out  of  the  long  thick  grass,  there 
is  a  natural  tendency  to  hook,  for  which  some  slight 
allowance  may  wisely  be  made.  In  all  these  cases 
a  great  deal  must  depend  on  whether  or  no  the 
player  can  take  a  free  and  untrammelled  back  swing ; 
very  often  he  must  adapt  his  swing  to  the  circum- 
stances, and  sometimes  it  will  pay  him  to  take  the 
line  of  least  resistance,  playing  out  in  a  direction 
which  is  not  the  most  eminently  desirable,  but  is  the 
only  one  allowing  of  a  free  back  swing. 

As  regards  heather,  when  the  ball  lies  reasonably 
well  a  wooden  club,  preferably  a  spoon,  is  sometimes 
more  effective  than  an  iron  one.  The  roots  of  the 
heather  seem  to  wind  themselves  round  the  iron  head 
and  impede  it,  whereas  the  wooden  club  slides  more 
easily  and  smoothly  over  them,  and  so  reaches  the 
ball  with  its  velocity  unimpaired.  There  is  no  heather 
more  trying  or  tenacious  than  that  at  Ashdown  Forest, 
yet  Rowe,  the  professional  there,  will  nearly  always 
take  his  spoon  in  preference  to  an  iron,  and  very 
wonderful  strokes  he  makes  with  it.  It  cannot  be 
denied,  however,  that  some  assurance  is  needed  for 


IN  HAZARDS  115 

the  stroke — more  perhaps  than  the  rudimentary  player 
is  likely  to  have  for  some  time. 

Water  is  a  hazard  from  which  the  ball  can  be  played, 
though  the  modern  fashion  of  heavy  non-floating 
balls  seems  likely  to  make  the  art  of  so  doing  extinct. 
It  is  an  art  in  which  I  am  afraid  I  must  confess  myself 
to  be  one  of  the  blind  leading  the  blind,  and  that  not 
merely  as  a  figure  of  speech,  but  because  I  always 
play  the  stroke  with  my  eyes  shut  and  the  most 
lamentable  consequences.  It  is  a  sad  thing  to  be 
afraid  of  a  splash,  but  it  is  that  fear  which  makes  the 
stroke  so  difficult  for  most  of  us.  We  flinch  so  palpably 
that  we  really  stop  hitting  before  we  get  to  the  water 
at  all :  the  club  goes  limply  into  the  water  and  stays 
there  ;  there  is  no  vestige  of  follow-though,  such  as 
shall  pick  the  ball  up  and  out ;  we  merely  emulate 
the  oarsman  who  catches  a  crab.  There  is  really  no 
reason  why  the  ball  should  not  come  out,  if  we  can 
keep  our  eyes  open  without  flinching.  To  this  I  may 
add  on  good  authority  that  nearly  everybody  is 
inclined  to  take  far  too  much  water  behind  the  ball. 
So  let  the  club  nip  in  behind,  but  only  just  behind, 
the  ball,  keep  the  eyes  wide  open,  and  don't  shy  at 
the  water  like  a  horse  at  a  traction-engine.  How 
I  wish  I  could  do  these  things  myself  ! 


CHAPTER  VI 
PUTTING 

'  What  mighty  ills  have  not  been  done  by  putting  ? 
Destructive,  damnable,  deceitful  putting  ? ' 

So  might  the  golfer  exclaim,  adapting  the  words  of 
Otway,  who  was,  I  regret  to  say,  ungallant  enough  to 
apply  these  epithets  not  to  putting,  but  to  woman. 
Of  all  the  golfing  arts  putting  is  at  once  the  most 
important,  the  most  aggravating,  and  the  most  unteach- 
able.  Its  supreme  importance  no  one  with  even  the 
smallest  experience  of  golf  will  be  disposed  to  deny  ; 
one  or  two  putts  of  merely  dubious  length  holed  in 
the  course  of  a  round  often  make  all  the  difference 
between  exhilaration  and  despair,  and  colour  the 
golfer's  recollections  not  only  of  his  play  upon  the 
green,  but  of  every  other  stroke  that  he  played  in  the 
game.  It  is  aggravating  chiefly  because  it  is  so 
terribly  uncertain.  It  is  possible,  though  I  admit 
it  is  exceeding  rare,  always  to  drive  well,  but  the 
finest  putter  in  the  world  is  not  only  incapable  of 
always  putting  well,  he  cannot  be  quite  sure  even  of 
putting  decently.  Even  if  he  does  putt  well,  he  can 
never  feel  certain  that  his  opponent,  usually  an 
execrable  performer  on  the  green,  will  not  on  this  one 

occasion    putt    far    better.     Nevertheless,    the    man 
no 


PUTTING  117 

who  has  deservedly  earned  a  reputation  as  a  good 
putter  is  one  to  be  bitterly  envied  ;  he  possesses  a 
gift  whose  price  is  far  above  rubies. 

I  have  called  putting  the  most  unteachable  of  the 
golfing  arts,  and  by  this  I  mean  that  a  man  must  to 
a  great  extent  puzzle  it  out  for  himself.  There  are 
of  course  certain  things — indeed  a  great  many  things — 
that  can  be  told  him,  but  pure  book-learning  will  be 
of  less  service  to  him  in  putting  than  in  the  playing 
of  any  other  stroke.  This  is,  I  suppose,  partly  because 
the  latitude  that  can  be  allowed  the  learner  in  respect 
to  style  is  greater  in  putting  than  in  other  strokes, 
and  partly  also  because  there  is  no  other  department 
of  the  game  which  is  to  so  large  an  extent  mental 
rather  than  physical ;  wherein  the  most  perfect  style 
must  be  so  utterly  useless  if  only  the  brain  wander  or 
the  nerve  collapse.  Yet  never  was  there  a  greater 
mistake  than  in  thinking,  as  some  people  do,  that 
putting  is  purely  a  matter  of  nerve  or  will  power,  and 
that  style  is  of  no  importance.  In  putting  as  in 
every  other  stroke,  the  golfer  who  has  the  soundest 
style  will  be  most  likely  to  retain  his  skill,  under 
unfavourable  circumstances.  Moreover,  those  who 
make  light  of  style  in  putting  will,  I  think,  observe, 
should  they  condescend  to  look,  that  good  putters 
have  in  fact  certain  characteristics  in  common  beyond 
that  most  important  characteristic  of  all,  the  getting 
of  the  ball  into  the  hole.  Equally  they  will  see — 
if  they  be  not  wilfully  blind — hundreds  and  hundreds 
of  players  whose  method  is  so  obviously  and  hope- 
lessly bad  that  nothing  but  a  series  of  miraculous 


118  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

interventions  can  cause  ball  and  hole  to  meet.  There- 
fore the  teacher,  whilst  admitting  that  much  must 
depend  on  the  learner's  nerve  and  power  of  self- 
control,  and  whilst  also  insisting  on  the  need  of  much 
wrestling  in  prayer  and  dogged  practising,  may  yet 
give  his  pupil  a  good  deal  of  definite  advice  as  to  the 
style  and  method  of  playing. 

There  are  in  putting,  whether  in  approach  putting 
or  holing  out,  two  main  things  to  be  considered. 
There  is,  in  the  first  place,  a  preliminary  calculation 
of  the  line  and  strength,  and  there  is,  secondly,  the 
actual  hitting  of  the  ball.  One  eminent  authority 
whom  I  profoundly  revere  has  declared  that  *  the 
mechanical  part  of  golf  is  comparatively  simple,' 
from  which  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  really  difficult 
matter  is  the  preliminary  calculation.  That  the 
latter  is  vastly  important  is  proved,  if  need  be,  by  the 
great  care  taken  over  it  by  all  good  putters,  but  that 
the  '  mechanical  part '  is  simple  I  respectfully  but 
entirely  deny.  I  would  go  so  far  as  to  say  that 
anybody  who  could  rely  on  the  mechanics  of  his 
putting  being  permanently  correct  could  afford  to 
make  some  of  the  grossest  errors  of  judgment,  and  yet 
probably  be  the  best  putter  in  the  world.  I  will  make 
so  bold,  therefore,  as  to  begin  with  this  mechanical 
part  and  let  the  line  for  the  moment  look  after  itself. 

The  player's  first  direct  business  is,  I  think,  to 
learn  to  take  the  club  backwards  and  forwards  in  the 
way  it  should  go.  In  order  to  do  this  he  must  have 
a  club  and  he  must  take  hold  of  it.  Wherefore  we 
come  to  the  questions  of  club  and  grip.  As  to  the 


PUTTING  119 

latter  a  good  deal  of  latitude  may  be  allowed,  and  the 
player,  having  already  decided  on  his  grip  for  other 
clubs,  will  probably  be  disposed  to  hold  his  putter  in 
much  the  same  manner.  The  one  point  that  may 
properly  be  insisted  on  is  that  the  grip  should  be  a 
comparatively  delicate  one — touch  in  putting  is  half 
the  battle — and  that  the  club  should  be  held  mainly 
with  the  fingers.  Whether  the  overlapping  grip  is 
used  or  not  is  in  itself  no  great  matter,  but  it  may  be 
pointed  out  that  a  number  of  golfers  who  do  not 
overlap  for  the  longer  shots  use  this  grip  for  putting, 
probably  because  it  is  essentially  a  finger  grip : 
Mr.  Hilton  and  Herd  are  two  prominent  instances. 
With  much  the  same  object,  no  doubt,  namely  the 
obtaining  of  a  greater  and  at  the  same  time  more 
delicate  control  of  the  club,  many  players  who,  before 
the  green  is  reached,  coil  their  thumbs  round  the 
shaft,  lay  them  down  the  shaft  in  putting.  This 
plan  would  seem  to  make  it  rather  easier  to  guide  the 
club,  and  a  player  who  feels  naturally  inclined  to  it 
will  be  wise  to  adopt  it.  There  is  one  grip  that 
deserves  perhaps  a  special  word  of  description,  because 
it  is,  as  far  as  I  know,  a  purely  putting  grip,  never 
used  for  any  other  stroke,  and  also  because  it  is  the 
grip  of  at  least  two  very  excellent  putters.  It  may  be 
called  the  reverse  overlapping  grip,  a  name  which 
goes  some  way  to  explaining  itself.  As  in  the  ordinary 
overlapping  grip,  the  player  holds  his  left  thumb  down 
the  shaft,  but  instead  of  allowing  the  little  finger  of 
the  right  hand  to  ride  upon  the  first  finger  of  the 
left,  he  reverses  the  position,  so  that  the  first  finger 


120  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

of  the  left  hand  rides  upon  the  little  finger  of  the 
right.  It  is  a  grip  well  worth  trying,  one  of  its  chief 
characteristics  being  that  the  right  hand  is  apt  to 
feel  and  become  the  master  hand,  a  state  of  things  for 
which,  as  we  shall  see  later,  there  is  much  to  be  said. 
Moreover,  it  is  the  grip  of  Mr.  W.  J.  Travis,  or  at  least 
was  when  he  came,  saw,  and  conquered  us  in  1904,  and 
no  more  beautiful  exhibition  of  smooth,  true,  accurate 
hitting  was  ever  seen  upon  a  putting-green.  Mr. 
Herbert  Fowler  is  another  noticeably  good  putter 
who  holds  his  club  in  this  way  ;  and  Mr.  John  Ball 
also  has  from  time  to  time  flirted,  if  one  may  say  so, 
with  this  grip,  though  I  do  not  think  he  has  permanently 
adhered  to  it. 

So  much  for  the  grip,  and  now  as  to  the  club,  which 
may  be  made  of  wood,  aluminium,  or  iron.  Clubs 
of  wood  and  aluminium  I  propose  to  class  together, 
an  action  blasphemous  and  indecent  in  the  eyes  of 
those  who  wield  the  old  wooden  putter.  Certainly 
a  putter  properly  so  called  is  the  more  graceful  and 
fascinating  of  the  two,  and  its  aluminium  rival  may 
lack  something  of  its  sweetness  of  hitting,  but  the 
method  of  using  the  two  clubs  is  largely  the  same, 
and  so  I  will  venture  to  stick  to  my  guns.  Iron 
putters  vary  amongst  themselves*  to  an  enormous 
extent.  They  have  straight  necks  and  crooked  necks, 
lofted  faces  and  absolutely  straight  faces,  flat  lies 
and  upright  lies  ;  they  can  be  light  or  they  can  be 
heavy.  Still  they  are  all  iron  putters,  and  the  main 
question  to  be  decided  is  between  wood  or  aluminium 
on  the  one  hand  and  iron  on  the  other.  If  a  man 


PUTTING  121 

at  the  beginning  of  his  golfing  career  feel  a  strong 
yearning  towards  any  particular  kind  of  putter,  it 
would  be  flying  in  the  face  of  Providence  to  balk 
him  of  his  desire.  If,  however,  as  is  quite  likely,  he 
starts  with  a  mind  void  of  prejudice,  then  let  a  club  of 
aluminium  be  thrust  into  his  hand ;  aluminium,  and 
not  wood,  firstly  on  the  economic  ground  that  it  is 
more  indestructible,  and,  secondly,  because  the  slight 
degree  of  loft  on  the  face  makes  it  rather  easier  for 
the  ordinary  person  to  control.  I  say  this  because 
an  aluminium  putter  is  more  likely  to  make  him 
acquire  a  smooth  and  even  manner  of  hitting  the  ball. 
A  ball  may  be  tapped  or  scraped  with  an  iron  club 
with  a  just  sufficient  measure  of  temporary  success 
to  harden  the  player  in  his  bad  and  early  ways,  and 
make  future  reformation  a  matter  of  the  gravest 
difficulty,  but  an  aluminium  club  instantly  and 
effectually  resents  any  such  flagrant  misuse,  and  the 
ball  that  is  scraped  or  tapped  keeps  out  of  the  hole 
so  resolutely  that  the  owner  is  in  self-defence  compelled 
to  wield  the  club  in  a  more  becoming  fashion.  I 
may,  further,  adduce  the  remark  of  one  of  the  very 
best  of  cleek  putters,  that  had  he  to  begin  life  over 
again,  he  would  begin  with  an  aluminium  putter, 
because  it  makes  putting  easier.  Aluminium  putters 
are  turned  out  by  the  thousand  according  to  one  or 
two  standard  patterns.  They  are  so  like  each  other 
that  no  advice  need  be  given  in  the  choosing  of  one, 
save  only  that  the  one  should  be  chosen  which  is  the 
best  balance.  As  to  what  is  well  or  ill  balanced 
there  can  be  no  better  guide  than  the  player's  own 


122  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

feelings,  confirmed  perhaps  by  those  of  his  professional 
adviser.  If,  however,  he  chooses  an  iron  putter,  he 
will  have  an  infinitely  wider  range  of  choice,  so  wide 
indeed  that  but  two  general  pieces  of  advice  can  be 
given  him.  The  club  should  have  a  certain  amount 
of  loft  on  the  face,  for  the  absolutely  straight-faced 
iron  putter  is  by  common  consent  an  atrocity,  and  it 
should  not  be  too  heavy.  Possibly  he  may  secure, 
by  means  honest  or  dishonest,  one  of  those  old,  light, 
thin-bladed,  lofted  putting-cleeks,  which  though  rare 
are  still  to  be  found  in  the  bags  of  a  few  fine  putters, 
such,  for  instance,  as  Mr.  Laidlay  ;  if  so,  let  him 
treasure  it  tenderly.  They  are  beautiful  clubs  that 
often  began  their  careers  as  driving-cleeks  in  almost 
prehistoric  times,  to  be  converted  in  their  old  age  into 
putters,  and  are  especially  good  upon  fast  or  rough 
greens.  Indeed,  there  is  this  to  say  against  the 
aluminium  putter,  that  on  greens  that  are  very  keen 
or  very  rough  and  lumpy,  it  demands  a  degree  of 
confidence,  firmness,  and  delicacy  almost  superhuman, 
so  that  an  iron  club  may  well  be  held  in  reserve. 

Meantime,  however,  the  nature  of  the  green  does 
not  enter  into  the  question,  and  so  taking  his  club  in 
hand  the  learner  can  come  at  last  to  the  swinging  of 
it.  And  as  to  this,  the  first  great  piece  of  advice  is  that 
putting  is  to  be  done  with  the  wrists.  It  is  dogmatic 
advice,  and  advice  with  which  every  one  does  not  agree, 
since  there  are  fine  putters  who  declare  that  as  regards 
short  putts  the  all-important  thing  is  to  allow  no 
play  to  the  wrists.  Nevertheless,  observation  shows 
that  the  majority  of  good  putters  undoubtedly  do 


PUTTING  123 

putt  with  a  free  wrist,  and  perhaps  I  may  add,  for  the 
sake  of  antithesis  as  much  as  argument,  that  the 
majority  of  execrably  bad  ones  putt  with  a  stiff  wrist. 

Moreover,  although  I  suspect  that  it  is  almost 
wiser  to  be  dogmatic  than  to  appeal  to  argument, 
one  good  reason  for  this  advice  may  be  advanced. 
The  man  who  putts  purely  from  the  wrists  can  hit  the 
ball  and  yet  keep  his  arms  practically  still,  but  the 
stiff-wristed  putter  must  very  decidedly  move  his 
arms,  and  in  consequence  is  much  the  more  likely  of 
the  two,  as  a  moment's  experiment  will  show,  to  move 
his  body.  As  to  this  last  crime  there  can  be  no  two 
opinions  as  to  its  criminality.  The  body  must  not 
of  course  be  held  as  still  as  a  ramrod,  since  to  be 
cramped  in  regard  to  any  stroke  is  absolutely  fatal, 
but  it  is  impossible  to  assert  with  too  passionate  an 
emphasis  that  the  player  must  not  try  to  assist  the 
club  on  its  path  by  sympathetically  moving  his  body 
forward  in  unison  with  it.  The  result  will  inevitably 
be  exactly  opposite  to  that  intended.  So  let  it  be 
set  down  once  and  for  all  that  the  body  is  to  be  kept 
still,  and  that  the  stroke  is  to  be  of  the  wrists  and  the 
wrists  only. 

The  matter,  unfortunately,  does  not  end  here, 
because  to  swing  a  putter  backwards  and  forwards 
with  the  wrists  in  a  reasonably  smooth  manner  is  not 
so  easy  as  it  sounds.  The  learner  will  find,  on  the 
contrary,  that  the  movement  of  the  club  is  apt  to  be 
jerky,  ragged,  and  uneven.  Let  him  persevere,  how- 
ever, swinging  the  club  gently  to  and  fro  somewhat  after 
the  manner  of  a  pendulum,  and  the  motion  will  soon 


124  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

become  smoother  and  more  satisfactory.  He  must 
also  remember  that,  in  the  words  of  a  distinguished 
writer,  '  the  principal  secret  of  good  putting  ...  is 
that  the  club  should  travel  as  long  as  possible  on  the 
line — or  a  production  of  it — on  which  the  ball  is  to 
travel/  and  that  his  club  must  resemble  a  pendulum 
not  only  in  the  smoothness  of  its  motion,  but  also 
in  the  fact  of  travelling  over  and  over  again  the  same 
straight  path.  For  the  attaining  of  this  end,  the 
editor  of  this  volume  once  gave  some  excellent  advice 
that  I  may  here  repeat,  namely  that  '  the  problem 
can  be  solved  more  readily  in  a  drawing-room,  without 
a  ball — by  seeing  how  the  putter  head  may  be  best 
induced  to  move  along  a  straight  line  of  the  carpet 
pattern — than  on  the  putting  green.'  In  trying  this 
indoor  experiment  the  student  will  probably  discover 
incidentally  that  the  direction  in  which  he  swings  his 
club  will  be  materially  affected  by  alterations  in  the 
position  of  his  feet,  and  by  wriggling  his  feet  back- 
wards and  forwards  he  will  very  likely  attain  to  the 
position  which  suits  him  best.  He  will  also  discover 
that  the  behaviour  of  the  club  will  vary  according  as 
his  right  or  left  wrist  plays  the  predominant  part 
in  the  swinging  of  it. 

For  some  mysterious  reason  it  appears  that,  what- 
ever may  be  done  in  theory,  in  practice  the  work 
cannot  be  equally  apportioned  between  the  two 
wrists.  If  their  owner  craves  advice  as  to  which 
should  do  the  greater  share,  he  confronts  the  adviser 
with  a  most  difficult  problem.  The  answer  that  most 
people  would  give  is,  I  fancy,  that  the  right  hand 


PUTTING  125 

should  be  the  predominant  hand,  but  very  excellent 
players  can  be  quoted  who  both  by  precept  and 
example  uphold  the  opposite  theory.  There  is  Mr. 
John  Low,  for  instance,  than  whom  no  one  comes 
nearer  to  his  own  ideal  of  '  hitting  the  ball  with 
freedom,  grace  and  accuracy  in  the  middle  of  the 
club.'  Mr.  Low  declares  that  he  has  come  '  very 
strongly  to  the  opinion  that  the  left  should  be  the 
master.'  I  have  also  heard  Mr.  Herbert  Fowler — 
and  he  is  a  very  good  putter  and  a  gentleman  of 
very  decided  opinions — express  his  belief  that  a 
vast  deal  of  the  bad  putting  in  the  world  comes  from 
the  club  not  being  taken  back  sufficiently  with  the 
left  hand.  Mr.  Low  suggests  that  a  good  deal 
depends  on  whether  a  man  uses  a  club  of  wood  or 
iron,  and  that  in  putting  with  cleeks,  more  especially 
those  of  the  Park  or  swan-necked  type,  the  right 
hand  takes  a  relatively  more  important  part.  He 
himself  of  course  uses  the  putter  of  wood,  but  Mr. 
Fowler  uses  a  cleek  with  a  bent  neck. 

Some  illustrious  examples  may  be  quoted  on  the 
right-handed  side  of  the  question.  Mr.  Sidney  Fry 
and  Sherlock  are  two  that  occur  to  me,  and  both  of 
these  may  be  set  down  primarily  as  cleek  putters, 
although  I  have  seen  them  both  putt  admirably  with 
aluminium  clubs,  and  that  without  any  apparent 
change  of  method.  Mr.  Travis  again  is  very  decidedly 
a  right-hand  putter,  and  yet  there  is  certainly  no  lack 
of  freedom,  grace,  and  accuracy  about  his  really 
beautiful  stroke.  The  question  clearly  cannot  admit 
of  a  positive  answer,  but  personally,  taking  an  ordinary 


126  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

individual  about  to  start  on  his  golfing  life  with  a 
perfectly  clean  sheet,  I  should  advise  him  to  give  the 
right-hand  method  a  good  trial  as  being,  on  the  whole, 
the  easier  to  acquire  and  the  more  faithful  servant. 

Most  golfers  have  probably  at  one  time  or  another 
experimented  in  putting  with  what  I  may  call  a 
croquet-like  stroke  ;  not  by  swinging  the  club  between 
their  legs  as  with  the  now  forbidden  mallet,  but  by 
holding  their  hands  some  considerable  distance  apart. 
A  trial  of  this  method  gives  the  sensation  of  the  right 
hand  doing  most  of  the  work,  and  more  especially 
pushing  the  club  well  through  after  the  ball,  so  that 
a  follow-through  of  almost  exaggerated  magnificence 
is  obtained.  I  would  not  advocate  holding  the 
hands  far  apart,  but  I  quote  that  method  as  giving, 
as  it  were,  a  clue  to  the  stroke,  which  for  the  average 
person  will  be  found  a  very  sound  one.  Mr.  Fry, 
although  he  holds  his  hands  quite  reasonably  close 
together,  has  that  right-hand  push  and  follow- 
through  very  well  marked,  and  may  be  given  as  a 
good  instance  of  this  method. 

There  is  this  to  be  said  against  this  pronouncedly 
right-hand  style,  that  it  may  lead  to  the  player  being 
unduly  cramped.  It  is  a  canon  of  good  putting  that 
the  club  should  be  taken  back  with  freedom  and  well 
away  from  the  ball,  and  a  moment's  experimenting 
will  show  that  the  club  can  be  taken  further  back  and 
with  more  complete  freedom  if  the  work  be  done  with 
the  left  wrist.  Still,  the  right  wrist,  if  it  be  fairly 
supple,  should  do  the  work  quite  freely  enough  for 
practical  purposes,  and  any  possible  disadvantage  on 


PUTTING  127 

this  score  is,  I  think,  more  than  compensated  for  by 
that  fine  push  through  of  the  club  straight  on  the  line. 

As  noted  above,  there  is  something  like  a  con- 
sensus of  opinion  that  the  club  should  be  taken  a 
good  long  way  back  from  the  ball.  It  is  a  noticeable 
feature  in  the  style  of  nearly  all  the  best  putters, 
particularly  resplendent  examples  being  Mr.  Low, 
Mr.  Charles  Hutchings  and  Massey,  and  it  must 
necessarily  make  for  the  avoidance  of  the  jerk  or 
snatch,  which  is  fatal  to  every  golfing  stroke.  Braid, 
who,  being  by  nature  but  an  indifferent  putter,  has 
yet  by  taking  thought  made  himself  a  very  good 
one,  takes  the  club  back  as  far  as  any  one  and  with 
a  notable,  almost  laboured,  slowness.  This  slowness 
is  probably  worthy  of  study  and  imitation  as  tending 
to  a  smooth  movement  of  the  club,  but  there  is  one 
danger  that  lurks  in  it.  The  taking  of  the  club  back 
very  slowly  and  very  far  produces  sometimes  a  horrible 
sensation  hard  to  describe  in  words,  but  easily 
recognisable  in  practice  ;  a  kind  of  hitch  in  the  stroke, 
wherein  the  player  feels  that  he  cannot  get  his  club 
back  to  the  ball  unless  he  moves  his  body  forward. 
He  does  move  his  body  forward,  his  hands  come 
through  in  front  of  the  club  head,  and  the  ball  is,  as 
a  rule,  pushed  out  to  the  right  off  the  heel  of  the  club. 
I  know  no  definite  cure  for  this  disease  except  to  stand 
resolutely  still  and  avoid  any  undue  exaggeration  of 
the  solemnity  of  the  back  swing. 

The  use  of  the  word  swing  again  introduces  a  point. 
There  are  those  who  putt  very  well  with  something  of 
a  sharp  tapping  stroke,  but  there  are  a  great  many 


128  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

more  who  putt  very  ill  in  this  style,  and  even  of  the 
good  ones  it  may  be  said  that  '  when  they  are  bad 
they  are  horrid.'  To  those  who  use  a  club  of  wood 
or  aluminium  a  swinging  movement  is  essential,  and 
the  man  who  putts  with  a  cleek  will  probably  do  much 
better  if  he  visualises  his  stroke  as  a  swing  rather 
than  a  hit.  For  one  thing  he  is  more  likely  to  let  the 
club  go  well  through,  and  a  follow-through  is  hardly 
less  important  on  the  green  than  on  the  tee.  It  must 
not  be  too  laboured  or  self-conscious  a  performance, 
and  assuredly  no  striving  after  it  must  tempt  the  body 
to  move  forward.  If  a  man  be  standing  still  and 
striking  the  ball  a  nice,  free  blow,  the  follow-through 
should  come  naturally  ;  and  if  it  does  not  come  he  had 
better  examine  critically  his  back  swing,  and  try  to 
infuse  into  it  something  more  of  smoothness  and 
rhythm. 

(a)  THE  PUTTING  STANCE 

Having  said  a  good  deal  about  the  actual  way  of 
putting,  I  may  now  deal  more  briefly  with  the  attitude 
in  which  that  hitting  is  to  be  done.  On  the  main 
question,  which  is  that  of  stance,  there  may  almost  be 
said  to  be  two  schools  of  opinion.  Some  will  say  that 
stance  is  of  so  little  importance,  that  a  player  who 
is  hitting  the  ball  well,  would  hit  it  just  as  well  if 
he  were  completely  to  change  his  attitude.  Others 
hold  that  every  man  has  a  stance  that  is  for  him  the 
natural  and  right  stance,  and  that  when  he  goes  off 
his  putting  the  reason  is  generally  to  be  found  in  the 
fact  that  he  has  unconsciously  deviated  from  his 


PUTTING  129 

normal  attitude.  The  former  are  doubtless  right  as 
far  as  this,  that  hitting  the  ball  truly  is  the  essential, 
and  that  the  placing  of  a  foot  here  or  there,  some  little 
trick  of  attitude,  copied  perhaps  from  a  master  putter 
who  is  himself  completely  unconscious  of  it,  will  not 
make  a  good  putter  out  of  a  bad  one.  To  this  the 
other  school  might  reply,  '  Yes,  we  admit  all  that,  but 
if  you  get  out  of  your  regular  way  of  standing  you 
feel  uncomfortable,  and  if  you  feel  uncomfortable  you 
cannot  hit  the  ball.  Get  back  into  your  natural  and 
proper  stance,  and  you  will  swing  the  club  in  the 
right  way.1 

Everybody  knows  the  sensation  of  those  rare  red- 
letter  days  on  the  putting-green  when  the  feet  seem 
to  plant  themselves  down  spontaneously  in  the  one 
natural,  comfortable  attitude,  so  that  their  owner 
without  any  effort  finds  himself  and  the  face  of  the 
club  aiming  straight  at  the  hole.  Those  having  much 
faith  believe  that  on  that  day  the  player  has  got  his 
feet  in  exactly  the  right  place,  and  that  if  he  could 
stereotype  that  attitude  he  would  never  putt  very 
badly  again.  The  thoroughly  sceptical,  on  the  other 
hand,  would  attribute  the  sensation  entirely  to  a  kind 
of  Christian  Science,  alleging  that  the  player  feels 
his  feet  to  be  rightly  placed  merely  because  he  feels 
confident  and  is  hitting  the  ball  confidently ;  in  short, 
because  he  is  putting  well.  Personally  I  rather  incline 
to  the  more  credulous  view,  in  so  far  as  I  think  that 
when  found  the  successful  putting  stance  should  be 
made  a  note  of.  I  do  not  mean  that  after  a  few  good 
putts  a  man  should  instantly  try  to  stereotype  his 

I 


130  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

stance ;  that  would  be  falling  into  the  disastrous 
error  which  Sir  Walter  Simpson  has  called  imitating 
one's  own  style.  The  mental  note,  once  made  as 
accurately  as  possible,  should  be  tucked  away  in 
some  pigeon-hole  of  the  brain  only  to  be  referred  to 
in  time  of  trouble.  To  try  too  deliberately  to  ward 
off  that  time  of  trouble  is  the  surest  way  to  accelerate 
its  inevitable  coming. 

Now,  if  every  golfer  in  the  world  can  have  his  natural 
and  proper  stance,  one  must,  considering  the  variety 
of  stances  to  be  seen  upon  the  links,  admit  that  there 
is  a  vast  latitude  allowable  in  this  respect.  That 
proposition  is  indeed  undeniable,  so  that  any  pieces 
of  advice  must  be  of  necessity  of  a  very  general 
character.  One  that  I  would  venture  on,  though 
sadly  conscious  of  being  personally  unable  to  follow 
it,  is  that  the  putter  should  stand  reasonably  well 
up  to  his  work.  He  will  certainly  look  more  beautiful, 
though  that  may  not  be  a  very  important  matter. 
What  is  important  is  that  he  runs  less  risk  of  acquiring 
a  cramped  method,  since  the  man  who  crouches  over 
the  ball  is  likely  to  find  the  free  movement  of  his 
wrists  circumscribed  by  the  other  outlying  portions 
of  his  anatomy.  For  some  clubs,  at  any  rate,  a  fairly 
upright  attitude  seems  almost  essential.  I  never  saw 
any  one  putt  well  with  a  wooden  putter  who  adopted 
what  may  be  called  the  grovelling  method.  For  some 
mysterious  reason  this  club  absolutely  insists  upon 
its  votaries  standing  fearlessly  up  as  if  they  were  not 
ashamed  either  of  themselves  or  their  club,  and  its 
aluminium  imitator,  if  not  so  exacting,  will  certainly 


PUTTING  131 

do  as  little  as  it  can  for  the  grovellers.  On  the  other 
hand,  those  who  use  palpably  lofted  iron  clubs,  such 
as  the  rare  old  cleeks  of  which  I  spoke  before,  nearly 
all  hold  their  club  rather  low  on  the  shaft  and  get 
down  close  to  the  ball.  Mr.  Laidlay  I  have  already 
quoted,  and  Lord  Winchilsea,  Mr.  Graham-Murray, 
and  Mr.  Stuart  Wyatt  are  other  names  that  occur  to 
me  ;  all  these  four  are  very  good  putters  and  all 
adopt  a  partially  grovelling  attitude.  An  exception 
must  therefore  be  made  in  their  case,  but  then  their 
clubs  are  rather  exceptional  too,  so  that  I  need  not  on 
their  account  go  back  on  what  I  originally  said. 

As  to  the  distance  between  the  feet,  there  is  only 
this  one  thing  to  be  said,  that  any  one  who  is  grievously 
conscious  of  letting  his  body  sway  may  be  well 
advised  to  try  a  rather  straddling  stance.  It  is  by 
no  means  a  certain  remedy — that  I  can  vouch  for — 
but  it  may  temporarily  or  even  permanently  alleviate. 
The  distance  that  the  player  will  stand  away  from  his 
ball  will  be  to  a  great  extent  regulated  by  the  lie  of 
the  club  which  he  elects  to  use,  since  it  is  a  good 
general  rule  to  sole  the  club  at  its  natural  angle. 
The  exception  which  proves  this  rule  is  one  of  the 
very  best  of  cleek  putters,  Mr.  H.  S.  Colt,  who  has  the 
toe  of  his  club  so  high  in  the  air  that  the  extreme 
heel  appears  to  be  the  only  portion  of  the  face  available 
for  use.  Generally  it  may  be  said  that,  in  putting  as 
in  other  strokes,  to  come  too  close  to  the  ball  is  apt  to 
interfere  with  freedom. 

Most  people  putt  with  a  more  or  less  pronouncedly 
open  stance,  though  there  is  no  particular  reason 


132  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

why  a  man,  if  he  have  a  mind  to  it,  should  not  aim 
with  admirable  results  in  the  direction  of  square  leg. 
Indeed,  I  am  by  no  means  sure  that  such  an  exag- 
geration of  the  square  stance  in  putting  is  not  less 
likely  to  be  disastrous  than  the  converse  exaggeration 
of  the  open  stance.  To  stand  with  the  right  foot 
very  far  forward  is  to  run  some  risk  of  becoming 
cramped  by  reason  of  the  right  arm  and  elbow  being 
too  firmly  embedded  in  some  portion  of  the  body. 
I  say  this  both  from  personal  experience  and  from  the 
watching  of  others,  but  it  is  only  right  to  add  that 
Jack  White,  who  is  one  of  the  very  best  putters  in 
existence,  often  carries  the  open  stance  to  its  extreme 
limit.  The  nearer  he  gets  to  the  ball  the  more  his 
right  foot  comes  forward,  and  in  certain  moods  he 
holes  out  his  short  putts  with  his  right  foot  absolutely 
behind  the  ball,  so  that  it  almost  seems  as  if  he  must 
hit  his  foot  in  taking  back  his  club. 

When  the  Badminton  volume  on  golf  was  first 
published,  some  twenty-one  years  ago,  it  was  stated 
that  the  putting  position  adopted  by  the  professionals 
almost  without  exception  was  that  of  having  the  ball 
almost  opposite  the  right  foot.  I  do  not  think  that 
such  a  statement  could  truthfully  be  made  nowadays  ; 
indeed,  I  should  say  that  the  general  run  of  professional 
and  professionally  moulded  putters,  although  they 
have  the  right  foot  forward,  have  the  ball  very  much 
more  nearly  opposite  to  the  left  heel  than  the  right 
toe.  This  fact,  if  it  be  a  fact,  is  one  of  purely 
historical  importance  as  showing  a  change  in  fashion. 
Putting  has  not  noticeably  improved  nor  is  the  new 


PUTTING  133 

attitude  in  any  way  superior  to  the  old  ;  the  younger 
generations  have  by  common  consent  produced  no 
putter  better  than  young  Tom  Morris,  who  putted  in 
the  old  style  ;  possibly  indeed  none  so  good. 

The  feet  are  the  chief  consideration  in  this  question 
of  putting  attitude,  but  there  is  something  also  to 
be  said  about  the  arms.  One  thing  that  is  noticeable 
in  the  style  of  a  number  of  fine  putters  is  that  they 
keep  the  left  arm  well  away  from  the  body.  It 
is  sometimes  said  that  this  makes  it  easier  to  keep 
the  club  passing  backwards  and  forwards  over  the 
straight  line.  Of  this  I  am  not  wholly  convinced,  and 
should  rather  say  that  the  merit  of  this  plan  is  that  it 
makes  it  easier  to  restrain  the  movement  of  the  arms 
and  putt  merely  with  the  wrists.  This  left  arm  well 
away  is,  at  any  rate,  characteristic  of  the  style  of  Mr. 
Hutchinson,  who  putts  with  a  wonderfully  free  wrist, 
and  others  that  occur  to  me  are  Mr.  Mure  Fergusson, 
one  of  the  very  finest  and  most  determined  of  holers 
out,  Mr.  Low  and  Mr.  Fowler.  It  would  appear  to  be 
more  characteristic  of  amateurs  than  of  professionals  : 
at  least  I  cannot  think  of  many  examples  from  the 
professional  ranks,  except  Taylor,  as  a  rule  an  excel- 
lent putter,  who  has  a  decided  crook  of  the  left  elbow. 

I  feel  more  inclined  to  be  dogmatic  about  the  right 
arm  and  elbow,  which  should,  I  think,  be  as  close  as 
is  comfortable  to  the  right  side.  This  right  arm  well 
tucked  in  is  a  feature  of  the  style  of  one  of  the  best 
and  most  graceful  of  putters,  Tom  Ball,  and  I  know 
that  it  represents  one  of  the  cardinal  principles  of 
putting,  according  to  the  Rev.  A.  H.  Cochran,  an 


134  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

admirable  wielder  of  the  wooden  putter.  To  keep  the 
right  elbow  far  out  from  the  body  has  the  effect  of 
stiffening  the  right  wrist  and  checking  the  swing, 
and  those  who  indulge  in  the  habit  have  generally  a 
'  poky  '  way  of  hitting  at  the  ball.  Moreover,  the 
right  arm  almost  certainly  needs  some  support ; 
otherwise  the  club  is  apt  to  be  taken  back  on  an 
unsteady  and  wavering  line. 

There  is  one  thing  quite  essential  to  putting  which  I 
have  only  mentioned  casually  and  incidentally,  and 
that  is  the  ball.  This  I  did  of  malice  aforethought, 
so  as  not  to  confuse  the  issue,  but  there  are  always  two 
things,  by  no  means  original  but  incalculably  important, 
which  must  be  said  about  the  ball.  You  must  keep 
your  eye  upon  it  and  must  hit  it  hard  enough. 

As  to  the  first  point,  it  is  impossible  to  be  too 
emphatic.  I  believe  it  to  be  possible,  at  any  rate  in 
driving  and  possibly  also  in  iron  play,  to  keep  the 
eye  too  fiercely  on  the  ball.  The  player  who,  with  a 
laudable  desire  to  imitate  the  photographs  of  Taylor, 
keeps  his  eye  too  conscientiously  at  the  place  where 
the  ball  used  to  be,  runs  some  risk  of  restricting  the 
freedom  of  his  longer  strokes,  but  there  is  no  recorded 
instance  of  a  similar  calamity  on  the  putting-green. 
There  is  no  necessity  for  the  player  to  move  his  head 
in  the  very  least  degree  until  the  ball  has  come  to 
rest,  let  us  hope,  in  the  bottom  of  the  hole,  so  that  the 
longer  he  keeps  his  eye  motionless  the  better.  I  may 
add  that  he  is  not  only  to  be  on  his  guard  against 
lifting  the  eye  towards  the  hole,  but  also  against 
letting  it  follow  the  club  as  it  is  taken  back.  It  is  a 


PUTTING  135 

great  temptation  just  to  take  a  glance  at  the  club 
head  to  see  if  it  is  going  back  rigidly  straight,  but  it 
is  a  temptation  to  be  resisted ;  there  are  few  things 
more  inimical  to  true  and  free  hitting. 

As  to  the  second  point,  a  most  valuable  but 
inordinately  long  sermon  might  be  preached  as  to 
the  enormous  importance  of  being  up.  I  will  refrain 
from  preaching  it,  but  if  the  learner  desires  a  more 
interesting  and  practical  lesson,  let  him  go  and  look 
at  a  tournament  in  which  the  very  best  players, 
professional  or  amateur,  are  engaged.  He  will  soon 
discover  how  prevalent  is  the  vice  of  shortness  even 
in  the  highest  circles,  and  how  many  strokes,  holes, 
and  matches  it  costs. 

There  is  really  little  that  can  helpfully  be  said  on 
the  subject,  save  this,  that  if  a  man  be  constantly 
short  he  will  often  be  found  to  be  letting  go  of  his 
putter  at  the  critical  moment ;  wherefore  let  him  see 
to  it  that  his  grip  is  firm.  There  is,  too,  as  regards 
holing  out,  that  admirable  piece  of  advice  of  Sir 
Walter  Simpson,  not  to  underrate  the  '  catching 
power '  of  the  hole.  The  question  is  really  one  of 
moral  qualities,  and  I  am  not  a  moral  essayist. 


(6)  ON  TAKING  THE  LINE 

So  much  for  the  stroke  itself.  Perhaps  it  is  a  great 
deal  too  much,  and  yet  the  subject  is  so  difficult  and 
mysterious  that  there  are  doubtless  enormous  tracts 
both  of  knowledge  and  speculation  that  I  have  left 
untouched.  Now,  by  a  process  of  putting  the  horse 


136  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

behind  the  cart,  I  come  to  those  preliminary  investi- 
gations of  the  line  which  have  to  be  mastered  before 
the  ball  is  struck. 

That  the  time  spent  on  studying  the  line  is  very 
well  spent  may  be  seen  from  the  example  of  nearly 
all  the  best  putters  ;  of  whom  none  putt  really  quickly, 
and  some  with  a  deliberation  that,  in  the  eyes  of  the 
irreverent,  amounts  to  slowness.  I  remember  once 
to  have  watched  a  match-play  tournament  for  young 
assistant  professionals,  and  never  did  I  see  matches 
played  at  such  break-neck  speed.  Much  of  the  golf 
from  the  tee  and  through  the  green  was  excellent, 
but  the  putting  was,  with  one  or  two  exceptions, 
dreadfully  weak.  Hardly  any  of  the  players  took  any 
time  to  consider  their  putts,  their  sole  desire  being 
apparently  to  get  a  tiresome  business  over  as  soon  as 
possible  ;  it  was  a  desire  that  really  defeated  its  own 
end,  for  many  of  them  played  a  sadly  large  number  of 
shots  upon  the  green.  I  do  not  know  if  any  of  the 
competitors  learned  wisdom  from  that  tournament, 
but  I  feel  sure  that  some  of  the  spectators  must  have 
done  so.  The  golfer  who  is  inclined  to  self -conscious- 
ness is  rather  apt  to  put  himself  off  by  a  very  solemn 
study  of  his  putts  ;  he  thinks  he  is  taking  too  long 
and  that  other  people  are  thinking  that  he  is  taking 
too  long,  so  that  his  last  state  is  worse  than  his  first. 
It  is  a  natural  feeling,  but  it  is  one  to  be  fought  against 
with  might  and  main,  for,  save  possibly  on  a  green 
which  is  as  flat  as  a  pancake  and  so  unworthy  of  the 
name  of  green,  putting  is  not  a  thing  to  be  done 
quickly. 


PUTTING  137 

Some  very  fine  putters  make  a  practice  of  always 
or  nearly  always  scanning  the  line  of  the  putt,  not 
only  from  ball  to  hole,  but  from  hole  to  ball.  This 
must  sometimes,  one  is  inclined  to  think,  be  a  work 
of  supererogation,  and  in  any  case  it  must  in  a 
measure  depend  on  the  individual  temperament  of  the 
player  whether  such  extreme  deliberation  is  a  benefit 
or  a  hindrance,  but  in  all  instances  of  real  difficulty 
it  is  certainly  a  wise  precaution  to  take.  The  line 
seen  from  behind  the  hole  sometimes  differs  materially 
from  that  seen  from  behind  the  ball,  and  it  is,  I  think, 
a  maxim  of  most  good  putters  that  in  cases  of  doubt 
the  line  seen  from  the  hole  is  the  one  to  adopt. 

Besides  the  line  there  are  other  considerations, 
such,  of  course,  as  the  pace  of  the  green  and — less 
obviously — the  wind.  Putting  in  a  strong  wind  is 
always  a  most  unpleasant  business,  because  it  is  so 
very  hard  to  keep  the  body  still,  but,  apart  from  this, 
it  is  a  very  common  fault  to  underestimate  the  effect 
of  the  wind  upon  the  travelling  power  of  the  ball. 
Nothing  is  commoner  than  to  see  a  man  hopelessly 
short  when  playing  a  long  putt  on  a  big  open  green  in 
the  teeth  of  a  strong  wind.  I  am  also  reminded  by 
reading  again  the  excellent  work  of  Braid,  one  of 
the  most  thoughtful  of  putters,  that  it  is  very  well 
worth  observing  whether  or  not  the  green  has  recently 
been  cut,  and  if  so  which  way  the  machine  cutter  has 
been  taken  over  the  grass.  When  the  green  presents 
an  appearance  of  alternate  light  and  dark  stripes, 
'  the  points  of  grass  facing  you,'  says  Braid,  '  give  a 
dark  complexion  to  the  green,  so  that  the  light  stripes 


138       'ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

represent  the  fast  sections  of  the  green  and  the  dark 
ones  the  slower  sections.'  Light  and  keen,  dark  and 
slow  ;  it  may  be  very  profitable  to  remember. 

A  propos  of  taking  the  line,  it  may  be  said  that  there 
are  two  different  ways  of  aiming  at  the  hole.  Some 
people  only  consider  the  two  main  factors,  the  ball 
and  the  hole  ;  others  fix  on  some  spot  of  ground  on 
the  line  to  the  hole  and  concentrate  their  attention 
on  trying  to  make  the  ball  pass  over  that  spot.  I 
must  confess  that  I  have  never  been  able  to  master 
this  latter  system,  a  fact  which  I  regard  rather  in  its 
favour  than  otherwise.  I  can,  therefore,  recommend 
it  only  on  the  assurance  of  others.  Those  others  are, 
however,  very  good  putters,  and  I  believe  that  the 
best  putters  do  adopt  this  plan  of  aiming,  not  at  the 
hole,  but  at  a  spot  of  ground  near  to  it,  so  that  the 
ambitious  putter  should  certainly  not  abandon  this 
plan  without  a  thorough  trial.  Whichever  is  the  system 
he  adopts,  one  thing  is  tolerably  certain,  that  once  the 
player  hag  decided  on  the  point  to  aim  at,  he  should 
hit  the  ball  as  quickly  as  is  consistent  with  a  complete 
absence  of  hurrying.  Once  the  stance  is  taken  up, 
hanging  over  the  ball  is  almost  sure  to  be  detrimental, 
and  if  the  player  feels  uncomfortable,  it  is  better  that 
he  should  come  right  away  from  the  ball  and  start  again. 
Mr.  Low  tells  us  that  having  made  sure  of  his  line,  he 
sometimes  walks  up  to  his  ball  and  hits  it  without  so 
much  as  another  glance  at  the  hole.  This  may  be  for 
some  a  counsel  of  perfection,  but  it  is  impossible  to 
doubt  that  too  much  aiming  is  bad ;  the  player 
either  falls  into  a  state  resembling  catalepsy,  or  into 


PUTTING  139 

overmuch  knuckling  over  of  hands  and  knees.  In 
the  one  he  becomes  too  rigid  ;  in  the  other  not  steady 
enough ;  nor  is  the  fact  that  traces  of  this  knuckling 
movement  are  to  be  seen  in  the  style  of  many  profes- 
sional putters  any  recommendation.  Probably  there 
was  once  some  great  putter  of  whose  style  it  was  a 
natural  feature,  but  with  most  people  it  is  merely  a 
piece  of  imitative  lumber  serving  no  useful  purpose 
and  tending  to  harmful  moving  of  the  body. 

There  is  one  more  putting  problem  connected  with 
the  taking  of  the  line.  In  playing  a  '  borrowing  ' 
putt,  i.e.  one  in  which  due  allowance  has  to  be  made 
for  a  slope,  the  player  has,  as  a  rule,  to  aim  at  a  much 
greater  nicety  of  strength  than  in  a  perfectly  plain- 
sailing  stroke.  A  very  small  variation  in  strength 
makes  all  the  difference  in  the  degree  to  which  the 
ball  will  be  affected  by  the  slope,  and,  moreover,  a 
ball  that  is  hit  only  a  very  little  too  hard  is  terribly 
apt  to  kick  out  of  the  hole.  The  player  has  therefore 
to  play  to  '  drop  '  his  putt,  as  it  is  called  ;  to  hit  it 
with  exactly  the  right  strength  and  no  more.  This 
is  so  delicate  and  difficult  a  business  than  any  way 
of  mitigating  the  difficulty  is  worth  considering. 

There  is  another  way,  though  it  is  doubtful,  not 
only  whether  it  can  possibly  come  under  the  head 
of  elementary  instruction,  but  also  whether  a  great 
many  people  will  not  find  it  worse  instead  of  better. 
It  consists  in  playing  a  putt  either  with  slice  or  pull, 
so  as  in  a  measure  to  neutralise  the  slope.  If  the 
slope  is  from  right  to  left,  the  player  will  slice  the  ball 
against  the  slope  with  a  cross-wise  cutting  motion  of 


140  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

the  club  ;  if  from  left  to  right,  he  will  pull  it  off  the 
toe  with  something  of  a  turning-over  movement  of  the 
right  wrist.  Since  the  hook  or  slice  will  be  fighting 
against  the  slope,  much  less  borrow  will  have  to  be 
allowed  for,  and  sometimes  the  player  will  be  able  to 
play  almost  straight  at  the  hole.  Consequently  he 
will  not  have  to  be  so  nicely  accurate  in  the  matter 
of  strength,  and  can  hit  the  ball  with  greater  freedom 
and  boldness.  But  this  slicing  and  hooking  of  putts 
is  a  subtle  business,  and  will  need  much  practice 
before  the  player  can  feel  sufficient  confidence  to  try 
it  in  a  serious  match.  In  the  hands  of  an  accom- 
plished putter  it  is  doubtless  a  valuable  weapon  ; 
with  those  less  skilful  it  is  apt  to  be  a  double-edged 
one,  and  should  at  any  rate  be  used  in  strict  modera- 
tion. 

(c)  OF  STYMIES 

The  excessive  violence  of  those  who  advocate  the 
abolition  of  the  stymie  sometimes  drives  those  who 
defend  it  into  the  use  of  language  that  is  likewise 
excessive.  The  abolitionists  talk  as  if  no  stymie 
could  be  circumvented,  which  is  sheer  nonsense, 
and  their  opponents  are  apt  to  retort  that  there  is 
no  stymie  that  is  impossible,  which  is  taking  rather 
an  optimistic  view  of  the  situation.  It  is  quite  safe 
to  say,  however,  that  a  great  many  stymies  are  called 
impossible,  either  through  ignorance  or  the  fury  of 
the  moment,  which  are  not  only  possible  to  circumvent 
but  in  many  cases  reasonably  easy.  When  the 
adversary's  ball  lies  at  a  distance  of  more  than  six 


PUTTING  141 

inches  between  the  player's  ball  and  the  hole,  there 
are,  broadly  speaking,  two  courses  for  the  latter  to 
adopt :  he  must  putt  his  ball  so  as  to  make  it  go 
round  the  blockading  ball  or  he  must  loft  it  over. 

As  to  the  first,  it  may  be  said  that  the  ball  can  be 
made  to  turn  only  to  a  very  small  extent  if  the  player 
has  nothing  to  depend  on  but  his  own  skill,  but  there 
are  comparatively  few  greens  on  which  there  is  not 
some  little  turn  in  the  ground,  and  a  very  little  help 
from  the  ground  makes  an  enormous  difference.  So 
it  is  particularly  essential  to  repress  the  impotent  fury 
natural  under  the  circumstances,  and  study  the  lie  of 
the  ground  with  the  most  meticulous  care.  It  is  also 
to  be  noted  that  the  nature  of  the  grass  makes  a  great 
deal  of  difference,  and  that  the  ball  can  be  made  to 
turn  far  more  on  a  green  that  is  comparatively  keen 
than  on  one  that  is  slow  and  heavy.  Finally,  it  may 
be  laid  down  with  some  confidence  that  it  is  far  easier 
to  make  the  ball  turn  from  left  to  right  than  from 
right  to  left ;  the  slice,  as  ever,  is  easier  than  the  pull. 

I  will  assume  that  the  player,  having  duly  considered 
all  these  things,  decides  to  play  round  the  offending 
ball,  and  that  he  proposes  to  pass  it  on  the  left-hand 
side.  The  stroke,  though  capable  of  being  played 
either  very  badly  or  very  well,  is  yet  a  comparatively 
simple  one,  in  that  it  is  to  be  played  with  a  slicing 
motion  of  the  club,  and  to  take  the  club  out  to  the 
right  and  draw  it  across  the  line  to  the  left  is  a  natural 
— often  an  incorrigibly  natural — movement.  For  the 
playing  of  this  stroke  either  a  putting  cleek  or  even 
an  iron  is  preferable  to  a  wooden  or  aluminium  putter  ; 


142  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

from  the  face  of  the  latter  the  ball  seems  to  leap  too 
quickly  away,  before  the  cut  has,  so  to  speak,  had  time 
to  work.     Having  taken  his  iron  club,  the  player 
turns  the  face  preferably  a  little  out  to  the  right, 
and  plays  a  cutting  shot  across  the  line  from  right  to 
left.     He  must  not  expect  to  see  the  ball  describe  a 
large  and  beautiful  curve,  because  no  human  skill 
can  make  it  do  that ;   but  it  will  take  every  possible 
advantage  of  any  helpful  slope,  and  if  it  hits  the 
corner  of  the  hole  it  will,  if  I  may  so  describe  it, 
bite  the   edge   and  fall  in ;    whereas  a  ball  played 
without  any  cut  would  resolutely  decline  to  go  out 
of  its  way.    If  the  ball  has  to  be  played  so  as  to  come 
in  from  right  to  left,  the  stroke  is  theoretically  the 
exact  converse  of  the  one  just  described,  but  prac- 
tically the  exact  converse  of  that  slicing  process  is 
unattainable.    To  take  the  club  inwards  towards  the 
body,  and  then  to  push  it  outwards  across  the  line, 
is  an  unnatural  and  almost  impossibly  difficult  feat. 
To  attempt  this  outward  cut  to  the  same  extent  as 
the   inward   is    to   court   disaster.    The   best   thing 
that  the  player  can  do — and  bad  is  the  best — is  to 
take  some  fairly  lofted  club,   hit  the   ball  off    the 
extreme  point  of  the  nose,  taking  the  club  back  slightly 
towards    the    body    and    encouraging    the    hook    in 
moderation  by  the  turning-over  movement  of  the  right 
wrist.    When  it  is  essential  to  hook  the  ball  to  any 
perceptible  extent,  he  will  be  well  advised  to  consider 
very  seriously  the  desirability  of  a  lofting  stroke. 

This  lofting  stroke  is  often,  of  course,  the  only  one 
possible.     It  is  regarded  with  hopeless  awe  by  many 


PUTTING  143 

golfers,  and  if  successfully  played  produces  louder 
thunders  of  applause  than  any  other.  Yet  as  often  as 
not  the  stroke  is  not  a  really  difficult  one,  if  only  the 
player  be  not  too  much  overwhelmed  by  his  own 
audacity  in  attempting  it.  When  the  two  balls  are 
close  together  and  the  hole  is  some  little  way  off, 
the  stroke  really  presents  no  vast  difficulties  ;  indeed, 
the  mere  consciousness  of  having  a  magnificent  excuse 
for  missing  will  make  many  a  man  hole  out  under 
such  circumstances  who  would  have  missed  a  straight- 
forward putt  with  no  ball  in  the  way.  Even  when 
the  hole  is  so  close  that  the  ball  has  to  be  pitched 
right  into  it  or  on  to  the  very  lip,  the  shot  is  by  no 
manner  of  means  impossible,  if  only  the  striker  have 
sufficient  confidence  in  his  club  and  do  not  try  to  do 
all  the  work  himself.  Too  often  we  see  the  stroke 
attempted  on  the  lines  of  a  curtailed  mashie  shot. 
The  victim  attempts  to  cut  the  ball  heavily,  picks 
up  his  hand  quickly  in  order  to  ensure  a  sharp  rise, 
and  performs  many  other  futile  and  laborious  actions 
with  a  quite  incommensurate  result.  He  relies  wholly 
on  himself  and  not  at  all  on  his  club.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  had  merely  taken  a  lofted  club  and  putted 
with  it,  he  would  as  likely  as  not  have  been  successful. 
The  club  must  of  course  be  well  lofted — either  a 
mashie,  [the  face  of  which  is  well  set  back,  or  a 
niblick.  I  incline  to  think  the  mashie  the  better 
club,  since  there  is  something  about  the  thick  sole  of 
the  niblick  that  suggests  a  difficulty  in  gliding  smoothly 
under  the  ball.  Best,  perhaps,  of  all  is  one  of  those 
ancient  lofting-irons  with  a  vast  expanse  of  face, 


144  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

tremendously  set  back,  that  are  occasionally  and 
irreverently  called  shovels.  I  am  happy  in  the 
possession  of  a  specimen  that  emerged  from  Tom 
Dunn's  shop  at  North  Berwick  in  the  very  early 
eighties,  and  is  a  wonderful  overcomer  of  stymies. 
A  sufficiently  lofted  club,  used  almost  exactly  after 
the  manner  of  a  putter,  will  get  the  ball  quite  high 
enough  into  the  air  to  clear  the  biggest  golf-ball  that 
ever  was  made.  As  in  putting,  the  club  should  be 
taken  back  close  to  the  ground,  and  should  follow 
through  in  the  same  way  ;  anything  in  the  nature  of  a 
deliberate  picking  up  of  the  club  only  adds  to  the 
difficulties  and  possesses  no  compensating  advantage 
whatever.  Even  to  call  the  stroke  a  pitch  is  to  run 
some  risk  of  getting  a  wrong  idea  of  it  into  one's  head. 
To  think  of  it  purely  as  a  putt  is  some  way  towards 
coping  with  it. 

There  are  many  stymies  that  are  to  all  intents  and 
purposes  insuperable,  and  one  of  the  most  deadly  is 
laid  when  the  opponent's  ball  is  within  an  inch  or  two 
of  the  hole,  and  the  player's  ball  is  some  considerable 
distance  away.  It  is  humanly  possible  to  play  the 
ball  so  that  it  shall  pitch  just  short  of  the  obstacle 
and  clear  it  at  the  first  bounce,  but  to  attempt  it  is 
indeed  a  desperate  measure.  It  is  also  possible  to 
play  a  running-through  shot  as  in  billiards,  but  I  only 
once  remember  to  have  seen  it  accomplished.  I 
remember  that  one  occasion  very  vividly,  because  in 
a  certain  international  match  at  Sandwich  I  thought 
I  had  stymied  Mr.  John  Low  very  satisfactorily,  only 
to  see  my  own  ball  driven  far  away  and  his  nestling 


PUTTING  145 

in  the  bottom  of  the  hole.  I  ought  to  add  that  Mr. 
W.  E.  Fairlie,  one  of  the  very  best  of  all  putters, 
became  at  one  time  so  skilful  in  the  playing  of  this 
shot  that  he  could,  I  believe,  accomplish  it  more 
often  than  not.  That,  however,  was  with  a  gutty, 
and  the  stroke  is  a  much  more  difficult  one  with  the 
rubber-cored  ball. 


CHAPTER  VII 
ON  FAULTS  IN  GENERAL 

EVERY  golfer  is  at  times  out  of  form,  either  generally 
or  particularly,  as  regards  some  one  club  or  stroke. 
Even  the  rawest  beginner  will  fall  at  times  perceptibly 
below  his  necessarily  humble  standard,  and  as  surely 
as  he  does,  so  surely  will  he  begin  to  inquire,  '  What 
is  he  doing  wrong  ?  '  This  moment,  at  which  the 
inquiring  instinct  first  dawns  in  his  infant  mind, 
is  a  very  important  one,  because  on  his  ability  to 
inquire  in  a  reasonable  manner,  and  to  prevent 
himself  from  inquiring  too  much,  his  future  happiness 
will  very  largely  depend.  He  may  grow  either  into 
a  rational  and  intelligent  person,  or  into  a  miserable, 
restless  style-hunter,  flying  madly  from  theory  to 
theory,  never  settling  down  to  anything  worthy  of 
the  name  of  golf. 

On  this  subject  the  late  Sir  Walter  Simpson  was 
at  once  the  most  brilliantly  amusing  and  the  most 
hopelessly  depressing  of  all  writers.  He  analysed 
with  a  pitiless  and  wonderful  penetration  all  the  insane 
fancies  that  golfers  imagine  themselves  to  carry  hidden 
in  the  innermost  recesses  of  their  poor  vain  little 
minds.  As  I  read  the  Art  of  Oolf  I  give  to  every 
other  word  a  personal  application  ;  I  feel  as  if  I  were 


ON  FAULTS  IN  GENERAL  147 

in  church — one  miserable  little  being  against  whom 
the  preacher  is  directly  thundering,  regardless  of  all 
the  rest  of  the  congregation.  As  an  exponent  of 
those  follies  to  be  avoided  Sir  Walter  is  unsurpassable, 
but  he  gives  little  positive  help.  His  gospel  is  one 
of  gloom,  almost  of  despair.  *  Aim  more  carefully ' ; 
that  is  the  one  piece  of  advice  that  he  gives,  as  if  he 
had  a  genuine  belief  in  it.  Nothing  else  matters  : 
we  may  imagine  vain  things,  but  we  all  come  to  miss 
the  ball  at  last. 

Now  this  will  not  entirely  satisfy  the  enthusiastic 
golfer  :  he  wants  a  policy  more  constructive  and  more 
cheerful.  At  the  same  time,  one  of  the  most  valuable 
pieces  of  knowledge  in  the  curing  of  golfing  ailments 
is  the  knowledge  of  what  to  avoid,  and  one  of  the 
things  most  carefully  to  be  avoided  is  any  undue 
precipitation  in  diagnosis.  The  golfer  who  is  at  the 
very  threshold  of  his  career  as  such  should  be 
particularly  careful.  He  is  not  to  go  a-hunting  after 
the  will  o'  the  wisp  of  some  new  trick  or  '  tip  '  ;  he  is 
not  to  think  too  much  about  what  he  is  doing  wrong. 
He  will  for  some  time  have  his  hands  full  in  trying 
to  do  rightly  what  he  has  been  taught.  With  him 
the  action  of  hitting  a  golf-ball  is  still  such  a  new 
and  unaccustomed  one  that  he  is  bound,  in  the  nature 
of  things,  to  have  many  failures.  It  does  not  follow, 
because  he  hit  the  ball  last  time  and  did  not  hit  it 
this  time,  that  he  has  therefore  fallen  into  some 
definable  error. 

The  more  advanced  golfer,  to  whom  this  chapter  is 
more  particularly  addressed,  ought  likewise  to  be  in 


148  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

no  hurry  to  discover  and  remedy  faults.  I  have 
heard  a  good  player  say  of  himself  that  he  was  playing 
well  because  '  he  did  not  mind  making  a  bad  shot.' 
He  accepted  the  bad  shot,  if  it  came,  as  something 
that  must  occasionally  and  inevitably  happen,  and 
did  not  bother  himself  as  to  why  it  had  happened, 
or  whether  it  was  going  to  happen  again.  That  is 
primarily  the  frame  of  mind  to  be  cultivated.  An 
occasional  mistake  is  to  be  disregarded  altogether, 
and  even  a  considerable  series  is  best  dealt  with  at 
first  by  the  policy  of  '  Aim  more  carefully.'  It  is 
wonderful  how  often  it  is  successful.  Under  this 
policy  of  careful  aiming  I  include  two  or  three  other 
things  :  the  time-honoured  maxims,  for  example,  of 
'  Slow  back,'  '  Don't  press,'  and  4  Keep  your  eye  on 
the  ball.'  They  are  so  valuable,  for  the  reason  that, 
unlike  some  other  remedies,  they  cannot  do  much 
harm  even  if  they  do  but  little  good. 

This  is  a  treatment  that  is  peculiarly  applicable  to 
a  breakdown  that  is  general  rather  than  particular. 
Either  because  he  has  lost  confidence  or  is  out  of 
practice,  or  for  one  of  fifty  other  possible  reasons, 
the  golfer  may  be  playing  more  or  less  badly  with  all 
his  clubs.  In  such  a  case  it  is  fairly  clear  that  he 
has  neither  the  requisite  time  nor  intelligence  to  think 
out  reasons  and  remedies  to  fit  all  his  mishaps.  If 
he  tries  to  do  so,  he  must  almost  inevitably  go  from 
bad  to  worse.  It  is  essentially  a  case  for  what  has 
been  called  c  general  treatment.'  Similarly,  although 
he  may  only  be  *  off  it '  as  regards  one  particular  club, 
his  disease  may  be  of  a  purely  general  kind.  If  he 


ON  FAULTS  IN  GENERAL  149 

hook  his  first  drive,  slice  his  second,  top  his  third  and 
follow  this  with  a  series  of  sclaffs,  the  inference  is 
that  there  is  no  one  remedy  of  so  all-embracing  a 
character  as  to  cure  him  straightway  of  all  his  diseases 
at  once.  It  is  a  case  for  patient,  painstaking  plodding, 
and  for  discarding  from  the  mind  everything  except 
the  most  elementary  theories.  All  the  misfortunes 
above  mentioned,  and  many  more  also,  may  come 
from  his  hitting  far  too  hard  or  from  his  never  looking 
at  his  ball.  It  is  almost  inconceivable  that  they 
can  come  from  any  minor  and  more  recondite  cause, 
and  the  victim  ought  to  treat  himself  after  the  manner 
of  a  general  practitioner  rather  than  a  specialist. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  may  often  be  that  he  is  con- 
tinuously making  the  same  kind  of  mistake  and  no 
other ;  all  his  drives  may  be  hooked  or  every  ball  hit 
from  the  extreme  socket  of  the  iron.  After  this  has 
gone  on  for  some  time  he  may  be  allowed  the  luxury 
of  a  more  particular  diagnosis.  It  is  probable  that 
some  one  thing  is  amiss,  and  there  is  at  least  a  hope 
that  some  one  remedy  will  put  the  matter  right. 

Now,  in  this  search  for  faults  and  remedies  there 
appears  to  me  to  be  one  particularly  important  rule  : 
Go  for  the  big  things  and  let  the  little  ones  look  after 
themselves.  There  is  an  enormous  variety  of  minor 
faults,  but  they  may  all  be  divided  into  a  comparatively 
small  number  of  big  classes.  The  thing  to  do,  if  pos- 
sible, is  to  locate  the  fault  only  so  far  as  to  place  it  in 
one  of  the  big  classes.  Sometimes,  of  course,  some  very 
slight  alteration  of  stance  or  swing — a  toe  turned  out 
here  or  there,  a  new  twiddle  added  to  or  subtracted 


150  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

from  the  waggle — may  inspire  confidence  and  so 
work  wonders.  But  this,  after  all,  is  a  great  piece  of 
luck.  It  will  not  happen  often,  and  the  man  who 
spends  his  time  hunting  for  just  the  right,  inspiring 
twiddle  may  have  a  weary  quest  of  it. 

'  I  knew  I  should  get  you  out/  said  a  famous  and 
insidious  old  slow  bowler  to  a  young  batsman. 

'  Yes/  said  the  batsman,  '  but  I  got  eighty  runs 
first/ 

So  here,  too,  it  is  a  question  of  counting  the  cost. 
The  right  twiddle  will  doubtless  be  found  in  time, 
but  the  searcher  will  often  have  lost  many  half-crowns 
before  he  finds  it.  If  he  had  proceeded  on  saner  and 
larger  lines  he  would  have  made  a  much  quicker  and 
also  a  more  permanent  recovery. 

This  is  a  point  to  be  remembered  not  only  when  we 
are  playing  badly,  but  when,  if  so  blessed  a  circum- 
stance ever  occur,  we  are  playing  well.  On  those 
happy  days  when  the  ball  flies  so  sweetly  and  easily 
away,  it  is  of  course  foolish  to  note  our  symptoms  too 
closely.  If  we  do  that,  we  shall  soon  be  trying  not  to 
hit  the  ball  far  and  sure,  but  to  hit  it  exactly  as  we 
hit  the  one  before,  and  this  way  lies  one  of  the  most 
facile  descents  to  perdition  with  which  I  am  acquainted. 
But  if  we  can,  without  thinking  too  much  about  it, 
note  some  particular  good  quality — on  a  large  scale — 
which  is  now  present  and  is  too  often  absent,  we  may 
acquire  a  valuable  store  of  knowledge.  Some  abstruse 
kink  of  the  little  finger  may  have  started  us  on  our 
course  of  improvement,  by  giving  us  confidence.  But 
it  was  the  confidence  and  not  the  little  finger  that 


ON  FAULTS  IN  GENERAL  151 

smoothed  out  our  swing  for  us  and  made  it  slower  ; 
that  kept  the  body  still  and  let  the  arms  follow  through. 
Those  are  the  things  we  ought  to  notice,  and  the  little 
finger,  having  served  its  purpose,  should  be  instantly 
cast  aside  with  the  blackest  ingratitude. 

And  now,  to  go  back  to  our  search  for  faults,  it  is 
often  as  well  to  take  another  opinion  besides  our  own, 
if  a  competent  one  can  be  obtained.  Sometimes  we 
know  perfectly  well  what  we  are  doing  wrongly,  and 
the  whole  difficulty  is  to  do  it  rightly,  but  at  other 
times  we  may  feel  fairly  sure  and  yet  be  very  glad  of 
a  confirmation.  There  are  times,  moreover,  when  we 
are  at  our  wits'  end,  being  only  conscious  of  missing 
the  ball  with  an  extreme  feeling  of  discomfort.  Here 
the  external  observer  will  be  most  valuable,  and  there 
is  this  especially  to  be  said  for  him  ;  he  will  only  see 
the  big  general  faults,  and  will  not  lead  us  on  a  futile 
twiddle-hunt  because,  not  being  able  to  feel  our  most 
intimate  sensations,  he  will  be  perfectly  unconscious 
of  fifty  minor  things  that  we  imagine  ourselves  to  be 
doing. 

Having  by  our  own  intelligence  or  that  of  others 
discovered  our  faults,  what  are  we  to  do  next  ?  The 
most  delightfully  simple,  and  generally  the  best  course, 
is  merely  to  try  to  refrain  from  doing  the  things  that 
we  ought  not  to  do.  Thus,  we  are  taking  up  the 
club  too  fast  or  too  straight :  what  we  have  to  do  is 
to  take  it  up  slowly  or  with  a  flatter  sweep.  So  far 
so  good,  but  there  are  faults  more  difficult  to  deal  with. 
Suppose,  for  instance,  that  we  are  putting  our  body 
too  soon  into  the  downward  swing,  and  so  letting 


152  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

body  and  hands  go  through  before  the  club.  The 
obvious  prescription  is  simply  to  hold  the  body  back, 
but  in  this  case  it  is  often  a  little  too  obvious  and  of 
no  real  service.  Then  we  have  to  cast  about  for  some 
other  cure,  and  some  two  or  three  may  suggest  them- 
selves, all  about  equally  hopeful.  When  this  happens, 
it  is  always  worth  inquiring  whether  we  have  in  fact 
run  the  fault  to  earth,  if  such  a  metaphor  is  allowable. 
Have  we  really  burrowed  quite  deep  enough  ?  It 
is  quite  likely  that  we  have  not,  and  we  must  go 
deeper  still  in  order,  if  possible,  to  find  some  simpler 
and  more  fundamental  fault,  which  is  in  truth  the 
cause,  and  for  which  there  is  but  one  remedy.  There 
generally  is  such  a  fault  if  we  can  only  find  it,  and, 
whatever  the  remedy  ultimately  decided  upon,  that 
remedy  should  always  be  given  a  reasonably  long 
trial.  It  is  futile  to  abandon  it  merely  because  the 
first  shot  or  two  do  not  show  a  marvellous  improvement. 
There  is  always  likely  to  be  some  discomfort  at  first, 
but  the  patient  must  give  the  cure  a  fair  chance, 
and  if  he  tries  to  keep  an  open  mind  he  will  soon  find 
out  if  he  is  on  the  right  track.  It  is  one  of  the 
advantages  of  having  our  own  diagnosis  confirmed  by 
a  competent  observer  that  we  are  then  the  more 
inclined  to  give  this  fair  chance,  and  not  abandon  the 
remedy  at  once  with  a  despairing  cry  of  '  That 's  no 
good.' 

I  have  just  two  more  pieces  of  general  advice. 
The  first  is  that  the  golfer  should  start  afresh  with 
each  fresh  illness.  He  should  consider  his  lamentable 
case  de  novo  and  not  hark  back,  without  taking  thought, 


ON  FAULTS  IN  GENERAL  153 

to  some  cure  that  proved  effective  in  one  of  his 
previous  seizures.  '  So-and-so  told  me  to  put  my 
right  foot  further  back,  and  I  drove  magnificently,' 
says  many  an  unthinking  person,  to  whom  I  would 
reply,  '  Yes,  my  dear  sir,  but  it  is  likely  that  he  said 
that  because  you  were  then  standing  with  your  right 
foot  too  far  forward.  At  this  present  moment  you 
are  standing  with  the  left  foot  forward  as  if  about  to 
hit  to  square  leg.' 

The  second  piece  of  advice  is  not  to  go  on  trying 
remedies  for  ever.  If  a  man  cannot  within  a  reason- 
able time  discover  that  he  is  doing  any  one  definite 
thing  wrong,  and  those  who  know  his  game  cannot 
discover  it  either,  then  it  is  clear  that  his  is  after  all 
a  case  for  general  treatment,  and  that  he  had  better 
eliminate  from  his  mind  everything  save  those  two 
essentials,  the  club  and  the  ball.  When  this  fails  too, 
it  is  sometimes  wise  to  give  up  the  game  for  a  while 
and  enjoy  complete  repose.  In  that  case  it  is  really 
to  be  complete  repose,  and  there  is  to  be  no  swinging 
privily  in  the  front  hall  or  pitching  into  well-padded 
armchairs.  Faults  may  sometimes  disappear  and  the 
golfer  be  himself  again  when  he  emerges  from  retire- 
ment, but  as  a  rule  it  is  otherwise,  and  the  fault  is 
too  deeply  rooted  to  be  so  easily  driven  out.  Whether 
we  are  generally  stale  and  jaded  with  too  much  golf, 
or  whether  we  have  acquired  some  particular  and 
atrocious  habit,  the  best  cure  is  the  most  painful,  to 
go  on  manfully  plodding  through  despair  and  dark- 
ness. The  ray  of  light  will  surely  come  in  time. 


154  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

(a)  PARTICULAR  FAULTS 

I  have  dealt  with  faults  in  general,  and  I  now  come 
to  particular  faults,  and  first  of  all  to  those  which  beset 
the  driver.  Of  these  the  first  and  most  elementary 
is  doubtless  that  of  topping  ;  to  the  beginner  it  is  the 
most  dreadful  of  all,  but  to  the  seasoned  golfer  not 
nearly  so  terrible  as  several  others.  Topping  implies 
that  the  ball  is  struck  upon  the  top,  but  the  term  is 
also  loosely  used  to  describe  any  method  of  striking 
that  causes  the  ball  to  run  along  the  ground  when 
the  striker  desires  it  to  soar  into  the  air.  Of  topping 
proper  there  is  not  a  great  deal  to  say.  We  top  the 
ball  when  for  some  reason — perhaps  we  are  stiff  or 
cold  or  nervous — we  do  not  get  properly  down  to  it ; 
or  again  because  we  take  the  eye  off  too  soon.  An 
attack  does  not  often  last  very  long,  and  as  a  rule  all 
that  is  needed  to  arrest  its  ravages  are  patience,  care, 
and  concentration.  Mr.  Everard  has  instanced  a 
golfer  who  '  teed  his  ball  in  a  hole  '  so  as  to  compel 
himself  to  get  down  to  it.  Without  resorting  to  such 
heroic  measures  as  this,  a  low  tee  will  sometimes  induce 
greater  carefulness,  and,  further,  it  will  be  well  to  make 
sure  of  looking  at  the  side  of  the  ball  rather  than  at 
the  top  of  it. 

The  ball  may  run  along  the  ground  with  equal 
obstinacy  when  hit  in  one  or  two  other  and  quite 
different  ways.  It  may  be  struck  far  back  off  the 
heel  of  the  club.  In  that  case  the  player  may  be 
standing  too  close  to  his  ball,  or  he  may  be  standing 
at  the  proper  distance,  but  with  his  weight  too  far 


ON  FAULTS  IN  GENERAL  166 

forward  on  his  toes,  so  that  he  falls  in  on  the  ball  as  he 
hits.  Conceivably  he  is  falling  in  because  he  is  standing 
too  far  away,  but  this  is  by  far  the  most  unlikely 
hypothesis  of  the  three.  Also,  he  may  be  cutting  with 
his  club  across  the  ball,  a  vice  to  be  dealt  with  later 
when  we  come  to  slicing. 

Again,  the  player  may  hit  the  ball  in  the  middle  of 
the  club,  and  that  without  hitting  only  its  extreme 
scalp,  and  yet  it  may  cling  obstinately  to  the  turf. 
In  this  case  he  is  in  grip  of  the  ghastly  disease  known 
as  foundering,  far  commoner,  save  with  the  quite 
rudimentary,  than  topping,  and  far  more  difficult  to 
cure.  It  is  a  disease  worthy  of  the  deepest  study, 
since  it  is  an  absolute  bar  to  all  timing,  and,  as 
regards  results  at  any  rate,  is  very  closely  allied  to 
slicing. 

Foundering  hardly  needs  description,  for  nearly 
every  one  has  suffered.  It  consists,  roughly  speaking, 
in  letting  the  body  come  forward  too  far  and  too 
soon  as  the  club  comes  down.  The  result  is  that  the 
hands  come  down  before  the  club  head,  and  when 
the  club  head  does  ultimately  arrive  it  is  with  its 
face  turned  downwards  on  the  ball.  The  inevitable 
result  is  that  the  ball  is  driven  right  into  the  ground 
with  a  heavy  '  dunt.'  In  aggravated  cases  it  never 
leaves  the  ground  again  ;  in  the  milder  ones  it  ricochets 
and  executes  a  low  and  scuttling  flight  with  a  tendency 
to  swerve  to  the  right.  Though  occasionally  effective 
when  there  are  no  bunkers  in  the  way  and  a  strong 
head  wind,  this  method  is  but  a  miserable  travesty 
of  driving  and  bound  to  be  disastrous  in  the  end. 


156  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

The  mischief,  as  a  rule,  is  too  deeply  seated  for  the 
simple  remedy  of  holding  the  body  resolutely  back. 
Your  true  founderer  begins  his  error  at  a  much  earlier 
stage  of  the  swing  :  I  speak  as  one  partially  reformed, 
yet  always  liable  to  fall  back  into  bad  old  ways. 
There  is  generally  a  perceptible  jump  about  his  back 
swing  :  he  does  not  keep  his  head  by  any  means 
rigidly  still,  and  there  is  a  decided  and  ominous  lift 
of  the  club  as  it  nears  the  top  of  the  swing.  The 
swing  starts  well  enough  :  the  wrists  and  body  begin 
by  turning  properly.  Then,  when  the  club  has  gone 
about  halfway  up,  comes  the  straying  from  virtue. 
It  is  so  much  easier  to  pick  up  the  club  straight  than 
to  go  on  turning,  and  so  up  goes  the  club  with  a  jerk, 
up  go  head  and  body  with  it,  and  at  the  top  of  the 
swing  everything  is  out  of  gear  :  the  player's  head 
is  too  high  in  the  air,  so  is  the  head  of  his  club,  so  are 
his  right  shoulder  and  his  right  elbow  ;  the  left  wrist 
is  not  sufficiently  under  the  shaft  and  the  twist  of  the 
body  is  very  imperfect.  Then  there  is  an  inevitable 
plunge  forward  of  the  body,  and  the  club  comes  down 
far  too  vertically,  first  on  to  the  ball  and  thence  into 
the  ground. 

The  prime  fault  is  then  to  be  found,  as  it  nearly 
always  is,  in  the  method  of  taking  up  the  club.  Hence 
the  remedy  lies  in  taking  the  club  back  properly, 
especially  in  preventing  the  head — the  player's,  not  the 
club's — from  moving  upwards,  and  in  taking  greater 
trouble  to  see  that  the  turning  movement  of  the 
body  is  rigidly  executed.  To  this  end  '  slow  back  ' 
should  not  be  forgotten,  because  the  quicker  the  back 


ON  FAULTS  IN  GENERAL  157 

swing,  the  easier  it  is  to  get  into  a  habit  of  shirk- 
ing the  body-turn  ;  the  vice  of  hurrying  is  a  most 
valuable  ally  to  that  of  foundering.  It  may  also  be 
useful  to  curb  the  right  hand  rather  severely  for  a 
while,  and  see  that  it  is  not  allowed  to  take  charge  of 
the  back  swing.  The  body,  however,  is  the  real  enemy. 
If  it  can  only  be  compelled  to  turn  truly  and  freely,  the 
fear  of  foundering  should  never  be  a  very  grave  one. 

From  this  point  I  can  pass  naturally  to  slicing,  a 
term  loosely  used  to  signify  the  striking  of  the  ball  in 
such  a  way  that  it  flies  in  a  more  or  less  pronounced 
curve  to  the  right.  Now  this  hideous  result  can  be 
produced,  like  that  of  topping,  in  several  different 
ways.  To  founder  is  not  to  slice,  in  the  most  accurate 
sense  of  the  word,  but  the  consequences  are  often  much 
the  same.  Since  in  a  foundered  shot  the  hands  come 
down  in  front  of  the  club  head,  there  is  a  natural 
tendency  to  push  the  ball  out  to  the  right.  Moreover, 
since  the  turn  of  the  body  was  not  properly  completed 
and  the  right  shoulder  has  never  got  far  enough 
round,  there  is  also  a  decided  tendency  to  cut  across 
the  ball  from  right  to  left.  The  habitual  founderer's 
club,  after  plunging  down  into  the  earth,  leaves  a 
tell-tale  mark  upon  the  turf.  Let  him  examine  this 
mark  carefully,  and  he  will  see  that  it  does  not  point 
straight  on  the  line  whereon  he  meant  to  hit  the  ball, 
but  palpably  from  right  to  left.  So  the  man  who  is 
persistently  hitting  his  ball  to  the  right  should  always 
consider  whether  his  disease  is  not  in  fact  foundering 
in  its  milder  form.  If  it  is,  he  has  the  remedy  I  have 
endeavoured  to  describe. 


158  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

The  slicer  proper  does  not  clunt  his  ball  into  the 
ground  ;  rather  does  he  sky  it  too  high  into  the  air. 
This  he  achieves  by  cutting  more  or  less  outrageously 
across  the  ball  and  finishing  with  his  hands  round  his 
waist  instead  of  thrown  well  out  in  front  of  him. 
Sometimes  it  may  be  that  he  has  fallen  into  too  circular 
a  method  of  swinging.  He  takes  the  club  back  too 
low,  round  his  waist  instead  of  over  his  shoulder, 
so  that  it  finishes  in  a  corresponding  position.  Sir 
Walter  Simpson  has  well  said  that  many  golfers 
misconceive  the  nature  of  a  drive,  and  4  visualize  a 
swing  as  a  scythe-like  motion,  not  as  a  straight, 
forward  sweep.'  The  remedy  here  is  an  obvious  one, 
namely  to  take  the  club  up  higher  and  well  over  the 
shoulder.  I  may  add  that  I  have  sometimes  found  it 
very  useful,  when  suffering  thus,  to  determine  that 
the  right  arm  shall  brush  against  the  right  side  in  the 
down  swing  and  to  concentrate  the  mind  chiefly  on 
this  point.  This  seems  to  throw  the  arms  well  out 
in  front  of  the  body  in  the  follow-through,  and  to 
prevent  them  from  sidling  away  to  the  left  in  accord- 
ance with  their  natural  and  vicious  propensities. 

Another  slicer  of  a  slightly  different  kind  habitually 
swings  his  club  too  far  out  to  the  right,  so  that  the 
arms  lose  the  support  of  the  body  and  are  almost 
certain  to  cut  across  the  ball  on  the  way  down.  This 
poor  cowardly  fellow  has  probably  tried  to  make 
allowance  for  his  slice  instead  of  wrestling  with  it. 
He  has  aimed  further  and  further  to  the  left  of  the 
proper  line.  Now  he  should  take  up  a  bolder  and 
more  defiant  attitude,  and  aim  with  moderation  but 


ON  FAULTS  IN  GENERAL  159 

quite  deliberately  in  that  direction  of  which  he  is  so 
greatly  afraid.  This  alteration  in  his  stance  will 
often  enable  him  to  attain  his  object,  namely,  the 
taking  of  the  club  decidedly  more  inwards  in  the  up 
swing. 

Finally,  slicing  can  also  be  produced  by  too 
vigorous  a  dropping  of  the  right  shoulder  in  the  down 
swing,  sometimes  accompanied  by  a  pronounced  fall- 
ing back  of  the  body  after  the  ball  is  struck.  This 
method  of  hitting  is  generally  characteristic  of  those 
who  suffer  from  too  exuberant  a  freedom  of  body 
movement  and  too  much  bending  of  the  knees. 

As  compared  with  slicing,  hooking  is  one  of  the 
most  harmless  things  in  the  world.  A  slight  natural 
tendency  to  hook  may  be  regarded  on  the  whole  as  a 
blessing,  and  intentional  hooking  is  an  art  that  can 
be  brought  to  great  perfection.  This,  however,  is 
beyond  my  elementary  scope,  and  I  deal  here  only 
with  hooking  in  an  exaggerated  form,  when  it  is  a  vice 
and  not  a  virtue.  A  bad  attack  of  pulling  very  seldom 
lasts  long,  and  can  generally  be  cured  without  much 
difficulty.  There  are,  to  be  sure,  those  who  have 
acquired  a  trick  of  turning  over  the  right  wrist  too 
soon  and  too  much,  and  this  is  a  habit  that  may  take 
some  eradicating.  Again,  those  who  hold  the  right 
hand  very  markedly  underneath  the  club  are  always 
credited  with  being  constitutional  hookers,  and  no 
doubt  this  grip  of  the  right  hand  does  conduce  to 
hooking,  but  it  is  also  apt  to  conduce  to  wildness  of 
all  kinds,  and  I  have  seen  the  most  chronic  and 
confirmed  slicers  who  held  their  clubs  in  this  way. 


160  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

Speaking  generally,  however,  by  far  the  most 
common  cause  of  hooking  is  hitting  too  hard,  and  this 
is  a  fault  that  ought  to  be  easily  abated.  Also, 
because  the  slightly  hooked  ball  is  the  longest  that 
can  be  driven,  there  is  a  great  temptation,  in  addition 
to  that  of  hitting  hard,  to  face  rather  out  to  the  right 
and  make  allowance  for  the  hook.  In  the  strictest 
moderation  this  may  be  all  very  well,  but  the  danger 
of  exaggeration  is  great.  To  stand  further  round  to 
the  left  and  hit  more  gently  will  generally  effect  a 
cure. 

Sclaffing,  which  is,  being  interpreted,  hitting  the 
ground  behind  the  ball,  is  another  of  the  occasional 
diseases,  and  in  its  occasional  form  may  be  dis- 
regarded. Sometimes  it  is  chronic,  and  then  it  is  almost 
sure  to  bespeak  a  swing  too  straight  up  and  down  ; 
the  remedy  is  naturally  to  be  found  in  a  swing  that 
is  flatter. 

Habitually  to  mistime  the  shot  is  lamentably 
common,  but  this  disease  is  almost  too  vague  a  one 
to  justify  any  specific  prescription.  It  is,  moreover, 
essentially  one  for  general  treatment.  There  is  usually 
something  radically  wrong  in  the  up  swing,  and  the 
best  thing  to  do  is  to  verify  with  care  and  patience  the 
nature  of  that  upward  swing.  It  is  generally  quite 
futile  to  try  deliberately  to  put  in  some  extra  flick  of 
the  wrists  at  the  right  moment.  It  is  far  more  to  the 
purpose  to  swing  carefully  and  easily,  and  so  give 
body  and  club  the  chance  of  arriving  at  the  ball  in 
the  right  position.  Mistiming  can  of  course  be  of 
two  kinds.  A  man  may  come  down  too  soon  on  the 


ON  FAULTS  IN  GENERAL  161 

ball  or  he  may  come  too  late  ;  the  hands  may  come 
down  in  front  of  the  club  head  or  behind  it.  The 
latter  fault,  however,  is  very  rare  ;  it  is  infinitely  more 
common  to  be  in  too  much  of  a  hurry.  The  player 
who  is  constantly  too  soon  may  be  referred  back  to 
the  description  of  a  foundering  style  ;  it  will  probably 
be  a  fairly  good  description  of  his  own. 

Turning  now  to  iron  clubs,  I  may  perhaps  venture  to 
pass  by  the  longer  shots,  the  full  cleek  shot  and  the 
very  nearly  full  iron  shot.  As  regards  these,  a  player 
is  very  likely  to  commit  much  the  same  faults  as  he 
does  with  his  wooden  clubs.  No  peculiar  treatment, 
unless  it  be  a  general  shortening  and  stiffening  up  of 
the  whole  swing,  need  be  recommended. 

Now,  as  regards  the  strokes  that  range  from  a  half- 
shot  downwards,  it  seems  to  me  that  faults  cannot  be 
separated  into  quite  such  clear-cut  divisions  as  can 
those  in  the  play  with  wooden  clubs.  A  player  is 
not  so  often,  as  regards  his  half -shots  or  wrist-shots, 
a  chronic  slicer  or  hooker  or  topper ;  rather  is  he,  I 
fancy,  a  general  muddler.  If  he  has  no  one  besetting 
sin,  it  is  not  because  he  is  virtuous,  but  because  he  is 
so  sinful  through  and  through,  and  therefore  the 
sermon  or  prescription  suitable  to  him  should  be  of 
a  more  general  character. 

I  should  say  that  the  two  big,  all-pervading  faults 
in  the  average  golfer's  iron  play  are  those  of  hurrying 
too  much  and  not  standing  still  enough.  The  great 
thing  in  iron  play — I  have  said  this  before — is  control ; 
the  whole  performance  is  to  be,  comparatively  speaking, 
a  stiff  one.  There  is  apt  to  be  with  most  players  far 

L 


162  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

too  much  movement  of  the  feet,  a  movement  that 
naturally  begins  with  the  left  foot.  I  have  certainly 
observed  in  my  own  case  that  when  I  am  playing  my 
irons  least  badly,  I  am  firmest  on  my  feet,  and  I  have 
sometimes  cured  other  people  by  telling  them  not  to 
dance  on  the  left  toe.  Moreover,  the  comparative 
immobility  of  the  feet  is  a  noticeable  feature  in  the 
style  of  the  best  iron  players.  To  allow  anything 
more  than  the  suspicion  of  a  turn  of  the  left  foot 
when  playing  a  comparatively  short  pitching  shot 
must  be  unnecessary  and  wrong,  but  it  is  very 
commonly  seen  nevertheless.  Similarly,  it  must  be  a 
sounder  policy  to  finish  these  shorter  shots  with  both 
feet  planted  firmly  on  the  ground.  The  longer  the 
shot  the  more  movement  will  be  necessary  and  allow- 
able, but  to  keep  as  still  as  is  humanly  possible  is  a 
sound  working  rule. 

As  regards  the  fault  of  hurrying,  it  is  perhaps  more 
fatally  easy  to  fall  into  it  while  playing  a  half-shot 
than  in  any  other  stroke.  When  the  player  is  taking 
a  full  swing,  the  fact  of  his  taking  the  club  over  his 
shoulder  seems  to  make  a  natural  pause — infinitesi- 
mally  small  of  course — and  to  give  the  club  breathing 
space  before  it  comes  down  again.  But  when  the 
club  does  not,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  have  the  trouble 
of  turning  the  corner  of  the  shoulder,  there  seems  no 
reason  why  it  should  not  come  down  again  as  quickly 
as  ever  it  can,  and  it  generally  does  come  down  like  a 
misdirected  flash  of  lightning.  Yet  the  iron  shot 
ought  to  be  a  particularly  leisurely  performance ; 
the  club  head  should  be  given  plenty  of  time,  and  the 


ON  FAULTS  IN  GENERAL  163 

cultivation  of  a  tiny  pause  at  the  top  of  the  swing 
has  already  been  recommended.  The  combination 
of  these  two  faults,  hurrying  and  not  standing  still, 
produces  the  obvious  result,  mistiming ;  the  bad 
iron  player's  hands  and  body  are  perennially  coming 
down  in  front  of  the  club  head. 

Having  so  far  talked  in  rather  general  terms,  I  must 
deal  specifically  with  the  most  horribly  specific  of  all 
golfing  diseases,  the  socketing  of  iron  shots.  It 
spares  neither  high  nor  low,  for  even  champions  are 
occasionally  attacked,  and  while  it  lasts  it  reduces  the 
victim  to  a  condition  of  hopeless  paralysis.  There 
is  practically  no  limit  to  the  eccentricities  of  which 
a  ball  is  capable  when  struck  from  the  extreme  heel  of 
the  club.  The  utter  feeling  of  helplessness  too,  the 
knowledge  that  nothing  can  prevent  the  catastrophe, 
must  be  suffered  to  be  understood.  If  any  one  has 
never  been  thus  afflicted  he  had  better  skip  this  part 
of  the  chapter.  I  should  be  sorry  to  think  that  I 
had  put  the  bare  idea  of  such  a  disaster  into  his  head. 

The  first  thing  to  do  when  attacked  is  to  try  ordinary 
remedies.  The  socketer  is  nearly  always  taking  his 
club  back  much  too  fast  and  also  taking  his  eye  off 
the  ball.  If  these  general  hints  fail  to  help  him,  he 
must  try  something  more  specific.  The  socketer  may 
be  taking  the  club  too  much  in  to  himself,  and  then 
pushing  too  much  outwards  with  an  excessive  use  of 
the  right  hand.  This  is  an  explanation  of  the  disease 
that  has  often  been  given.  Occasionally  it  fits  the 
case,  but  I  believe  it  in  most  cases  to  be  misleading. 
I  think  that  it  is  much  commoner  to  take  the  club  too 


164  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

far  out  to  the  right  and  then  to  bring  it  down  too  much 
to  the  left  with  the  hands  in  front,  the  heel  being 
thus  the  first  part  of  the  club  to  reach  the  ball. 
More  often  than  not,  therefore,  the  socketer  ought 
really  to  take  the  club  well  in  to  himself,  the  arms  thus 
getting  plenty  of  support  from  the  body,  and  further 
to  verify  once  again  the  turning  movement  of  the 
wrists.  I  believe  I  have  cured  one  of  the  most 
persistent  of  socketers  that  ever  lived  by  making 
him,  after  years  of  nagging,  turn  his  wrists  over 
sufficiently  in  taking  back  the  club. 

Socketing  may  occasionally  proceed  from  too  free 
a  use  of  the  wrist,  from  making  the  stroke,  in  fact,  that 
which  it  ought  not  to  be,  a  pure  wrist  stroke.  I 
remember  once  to  have  been  severely  stricken  down 
when  trying  some  fantastically  abrupt  lofting  shots  in 
a  garden.  I  got  gradually  into  the  habit  of  picking 
up  the  club  very  abruptly  with  nothing  but  a  flick 
of  the  wrist.  For  a  while  I  accomplished  some  wonder- 
ful feats,  but  after  that  a  veil  may  be  drawn  over  my 
sufferings.  However,  in  this  instance,  once  the  cause 
is  discovered,  the  remedy  is  not  very  difficult  to  apply. 

When  all  is  said,  probably  the  best  cure  is  one  that 
may  be  called  a  catchword  cure,  of  which  I  believe 
Mr.  Charles  Hutchings  to  be  the  inventor.  I  have 
often  quoted  it  before,  elsewhere,  but  make  no  apology 
for  doing  so  again  here.  It  is,  c  Take  the  club  right 
through  with  the  right  hand.'  It  is  contrary  to  many 
respectable  doctrines  ;  the  exact  reason  of  its  effective- 
ness is  difficult  to  explain.  I  will  not  argue  :  I  only 
say  confidently,  '  Try  it.' 


ON  FAULTS  TN  GENERAL  165 

The  subject  of  putting  has  already  been  so 
voluminously  treated  in  an  earlier  chapter  that  I 
hesitate  to  say  much  more  about  it.  What  is  the 
most  common  form  of  collapse  upon  the  putting  green  ? 
It  is  not,  as  a  rule,  that  the  victim  is  for  ever  hitting 
his  ball  too  much  to  the  right  or  left  of  the  hole — a 
disease  that  would  be  reasonably  amenable  to  analysis. 
No,  he  usually  suffers  from  a  general  incapacity  to 
strike  the  ball.  It  is  impossible  to  prescribe  at  large 
in  such  cases.  Patience,  courage,  a  capacity  for 
blotting  out  previous  tragedies  from  the  mind — 
these  are  the  chief  requisites  for  recovery. 

There  is  one  particular  symptom  that  is  often  notice- 
able in  those  suffering  from  this  temporary  paralysis 
upon  the  green.  They  have  a  great  difficulty  in  using 
their  wrists  with  sufficient  freedom,  or  indeed  in 
aggravated  cases  in  using  them  at  all ;  the  ball  is 
struck  with  a  stiff,  hesitating  push  of  the  whole  arm. 
This  is  not  uncommon  with  the  very  best  of  golfers. 
Harry  Vardon,  when  he  has  one  of  his  off-days  on  the 
green,  seems  to  get  his  right  wrist  absolutely  locked, 
so  that  it  will  only  move  with  a  stiff  uneven  little 
jerk.  That  which  makes  it  the  more  difficult  to  deal 
with  is  that  this  is  a  purely  mental,  and  not  a  physical 
disability.  When  there  is  no  ball  there,  or  it  is  of 
no  moment  what  happens  to  the  ball,  the  victim 
can  move  his  wrists  backwards  and  forwards  as  if 
they  formed  part  of  a  well-oiled  machine.  I  know 
of  no  definite  remedy.  There  is  nothing  for  it  but  to 
try  with  might  and  main  to  stand  steady  and  force 
the  wrists,  and  the  wrists  alone,  to  move,  but  it  is 


166  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

uphill  work.  It  has  already  been  suggested  that  the 
position  of  the  feet  is  of  some  importance,  and  that 
it  is  easy  for  a  player  to  deviate  unconsciously  from 
his  normal  and  comfortable  stance.  Therefore  it  is 
sometimes  profitable  to  abandon  the  wrists  temporarily 
as  hopeless,  and  devote  all  the  attention  to  reacquiring 
a  comfortable  stance,  in  the  hope  that  the  wrists  will 
then  behave  themselves  of  their  own  free  will. 

Apart  from  this  general  futility  of  hitting,  there 
are  at  least  two  big  definite  faults  in  putting.  The 
player  may  move  his  body  forward  with  or,  worse  still, 
in  front  of  the  club  head,  or  he  may  take  the  club 
back  crooked.  As  to  the  former,  there  have  been 
very  good  putters  who  had  a  suspicion  of  this  body 
movement.  The  late  Mr.  F.  G.  Tait,  who  was  as 
good  a  putter  as  he  was  a  bold  one,  had  a  trace  of  it 
in  his  style  ;  as  Mr.  Low  describes  it,  he  brought 
the  club  through  "on  a  piece,"  head,  shaft,  and  hands 
all  going  forward  together,  a  manner  due  partly 
perhaps  to  the  fact  that  he  putted  with  a  noticeably 
lofted  cleek.  Mr.  Maxwell,  too,  as  a  rule  a  very 
excellent  putter,  seems  to  let  his  body  go  forward  a 
little,  but  he  has  rather  a  curious  style,  with  a  fierce 
grip  of  the  club  and  a  wrist  so  stiff  that  one  may  be 
allowed,  for  the  benefit  of  the  less  talented,  to  term 
it  unorthodox.  Generally  speaking,  however,  body 
movement  is  strongly  to  be  deprecated,  and  the  man 
who  is  conscious  of  the  tendency  should  try  to  restrain 
it,  though  this  is  easier  said  than  done. 

The  fault  of  taking  the  club  back  crooked  admits 
of  a  subdivision,  for  it  may  be  taken  back  either 


ON  FAULTS  IN  GENERAL  167 

inwards  or  outwards,  to  the  left  of  the  proper  line  or 
to  the  right  of  it.  The  '  pinching  '  of  the  club  inwards 
is  often  credited  with  being  the  commonest  fault  in 
putting,  and  it  is  at  any  rate  alarmingly  common. 
A  ball  struck  in  this  way  constantly  flatters  only  to 
deceive  ;  it  appears  to  be  making  straight  for  the 
hole,  arrives  almost  at  the  lip,  and  then  swerves  away 
to  the  left-hand  side.  Mr.  Everard  tells  us  that  Jamie 
Anderson,  one  of  the  best  and  most  famous  of  putters, 
never  lost  sight  of  this  besetting  error,  and  eliminated 
it  by  making  allowance  for  it ;  but  to  make  the  right 
amount  of  allowance  for  such  an  error  and  no  more 
is  the  very  deuce  and  all.  I  have  only  heard  of  one 
specific  remedy,  which  was  imparted  to  me  by  one  of 
the  most  deadly  wielders  of  the  putting  cleek,  Mr. 
D.  F.  Ranson.  He  declared  that  he  had  never  suffered 
since  he  had  taken  to  turning  his  right  foot  rather 
inwards.  Such  a  stance  does,  I  think,  have  the  effect 
of  making  the  club  go  out  well  away  from  the  body  ; 
the  fear  is  lest  it  should  be  too  effective,  and  drive  the 
player  into  the  opposite  extreme. 

In  the  opposite  form  of  error  the  club  is  not  only 
taken  out  too  much  to  the  right ;  as  a  rule  it  also 
describes  in  its  course  through  the  air  a  peculiar 
pattern  resembling  a  pig's  tail.  The  result  is  that  the 
club  cuts  across  the  ball,  which  is  pushed  feebly  out 
to  the  right  of  the  hole.  The  fault  is  particularly 
characteristic  of  those  who  hold  the  club  as  in  a 
vice  and  putt  with  too  stiff  a  wrist.  A  greater 
freedom  of  wrist  affords  the  best  hope  of  reforma- 
tion. 


168  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION 

And  now,  having  gone  through  the  various  faults 
and  remedies,  I  end  with  one  last  solemn  exhortation. 
As  soon  as  the  cure  has  effected  its  purpose,  put  it 
temporarily  out  of  mind.  A  cure  unduly  persisted 
in  invariably  becomes  a  fault  in  itself. 


PART  II 

FROM  THE  PROFESSIONAL'S 
POINT  OF  VIEW 

BY  J.  SHERLOCK 


CHAPTER  I 
EDUCATIONAL 

THERE  must  be  no  confusion  on  one  point.  This 
article  is  written  from  the  point  of  view  of  a  professional 
golfer,  who  quite  expects  that  a  considerable  number 
of  his  brethren  will  emphatically  disagree  with  many 
of  the  opinions  expressed  ;  some  will  hardly  consider 
the  opinions  worth  expressing  ;  and  others  still  will 
never  know  that  any  such  opinions  have  ever  been 
expressed.  The  various  moods  that  led  me  to  accept 
the  editor's  kind  invitation  I  cannot  explain.  That 
I  was  duly  warned  of  my  peril  I  must  admit,  for, 
as  a  facetious  friend  of  mine  reminded  me — '  to  be 
intelligible  is  to  be  found  out.'  Besides,  I  knew  quite 
well  that  acceptance  would  land  me  in  the  worst 
bunker  I  was  ever  in  in  my  life. 

Well,  what  follows  is  the  point  of  view  of  a  golfer 
who  has  learnt  his  golf  on  a  mud  heap.  And  such 
mud !  To  describe  it  adequately  is  out  of  the  question, 
and  besides  would  serve  no  purpose,  but  I  warrant 
that  most  of  my  brethren  have  little  or  no  idea 
what  it  means  to  play  under  like  conditions.  In 
winter  you  slipped  and  slithered  about  as  in  a  swamp, 

and  it  was  quite  the  normal  condition  to  return  to  the 

m 


172  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

club-house,  after  a  round,  partially  hidden  by  dabs  oi 
mud.  In  summer  what  little  grass  there  was  dis- 
appeared, and  the  black  soil  baked  so  hard  that  if  you 
dipped  for  a  shot  the  least  bit  too  much,  the  shock 
made  the  club  shake  and  vibrate  so  that  you  looked 
anxiously  at  the  shaft  to  see  if  it  were  broken ;  whilst 
in  the  grass  season  you  had  a  jungle,  and  at  most 
times  the  worms  so  numerous  and  busy,  that  to  get 
a  lie  through  the  green  where  you  had  not  got  to 
account  for  one  of  their  monuments  of  industrj7  was 
almost  impossible. 

Such  was  my  practice-ground  and  home  course. 
I  seldom  got  a  chance  to  play  on  any  other,  except 
when  I  attended  one  of  the  few  professional  tourna- 
ments or  took  a  golfing  holiday.  Yet  I  claim  for  the 
mud  heap  that  it  meant  a  training  that  should  not 
be  despised,  and  had  advantages  peculiarly  its  own. 

I  am  fully  aware  that  this  opinion  clashes  with 
that  of  a  distinguished  writer  whose  inimitable  articles 
on  the  game  I  look  forward  to  week  after  week.  He 
holds  that  to  be  a  master,  your  inception  of  the  game 
must  have  been  where  the  sand  is  under  the  turf,  and 
the  wind  blows  the  salt  of  the  sea  in  your  face ;  but 
surely  for  proof  of  this  he  must  wait.  The  inlander 
has  had  so  short  a  time  in  which  to  *  arrive.'  Why, 
even  as  recently  as  when  the  writer  himself  was 
collecting  Blues  at  his  University — and  he  is  still  in 
the  young  forties — inland  courses  could  be  counted 
in  tens. 

My  claim  is  based  on  a  very  simple  fact.  If  you 
have  to  master  such  conditions  you  can  only  do  so 


EDUCATIONAL  173 

by  acquiring  the  habit  of  accurate  hitting,  and  *  you 
'ave  to  'ave  the  'abit  or  you  'd  lose.' 

The  '  not  quite  timing  'em  '  sort  of  shot  is  no  good 
whatever,  for  the  margin  of  error  is  almost  at  vanish- 
ing point :  slovenly  methods  do  not  pay,  forcing 
methods  mean  disaster,  clean  true  hitting  is  the  only 
way. 

The  Open  Champion  came  once  and  we  played  an 
exhibition  match.  I  did  not  appreciate  what  he 
meant  at  the  time,  but  I  do  now.  'Jimmy,'  he  said, 
'  I  know  what  you  feel,  but  you  take  it  from  me,  if 
you  can  play  golf  here  you  can  play  anywhere.' 

It  must  not  be  imagined  that  I  love  this  dirty  kind 
of  golf,  and  fail  to  appreciate  the  flavour  of  the  sea 
and  the  sand  dunes.  Far  from  it ;  and  perhaps  it  was 
not  the  critic's  dictum  but  the  artist  underneath 
creeping  through.  Anyhow,  as  an  inlander  I  must 
protest  against  even  the  artistic  point  of  view  when 
it  asks  too  much  and  tends  to  discouragement. ' 


(a)  COACHING 

Certainly  the  most  important  duty  a  professional 
has  to  perform  for  the  club  that  employs  him  is  that 
of  '  giving  instruction  '  to  the  members,  and  as  this  is 
so  important  I  ask  no  pardon  for  giving  an  opinion 
based  on  my  awn  experiences.  There  are  a  number 
of  ways  of  coaching,  and  all  sorts  and  conditions  of 
men  essay  the  task.  It  is  not  an  uncommon  sight  to 
see  the  twenty  handicap  man  seriously  explaining  to 
the  beginner  how  to  use  the  driver  or  the  mashie. 


174  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

It  is  still  more  common  to  come  across  the  nine 
handicap  man,  generally  in  the  course  of  a  round, 
diligently  striving  to  show  his  twenty  handicap  partner 
how  the  game  should  be  played.  The  scratch  and 
the  below  scratch  player  invariably  has  a  mania  for 
coaching.  On  the  links,  in  the  club-house,  even  in 
the  professional's  shop,  he  is  always  at  it. 

Now  of  this  class  of  instruction  I  wish  to  speak 
with  every  respect;  it  is  generously  given  and 
graciously  accepted,  but  the  best  that  can  be  said 
for  it  is  that  it  is  generally  harmless  but  sometimes 
helpful.  It  reminds  me  very  much  of  the  class  of 
remedies  called  '  patent  medicines,'  and  with  due 
reservations  it  is  best  left  alone. 

I  feel  it  my  duty  to  write  a  word  of  warning  to 
the  last  type  I  mentioned,  *  the  scratch  player,' 
especially  he  who  comes  to  his  power  early  in  life. 
It  is  but  true  to  say  that  he  frequently  spoils  a 
good  golfer  in  the  making. 

Every  professional  can  give  you  examples  of  it. 
I  have  personally  known  many  instances.  I  will 
illustrate  by  an  example.  I  was  coaching  for  a 
short  time  a  young  player  who  was  making  rapid 
progress  towards  the  scratch  mark,  when  he  had  to 
go  away  to  keep  his  'Varsity  term.  There  he  came 
under  the  influence  of  a  better  player,  an  enthusiast, 
but  with  a  very  distinctive  style.  Well,  when  I  next 
saw  my  pupil  his  game  was  in  a  hopeless  state  :  he 
was  simply  torturing  himself  in  attempting  to  acquire 
a  method  that  could  never  in  his  case  give  satisfactory 
results. 


EDUCATIONAL  176 

And  in  that  case  is  to  be  found  my  reason  for 
objecting  to  this  kind  of  coaching.  I  say  it  quite 
frankly,  because  I  have  come  to  my  opinion  through 
much  observation.  Amateurs  are,  with  very  few 
exceptions,  unduly  obsessed  with  their  own  methods 
of  playing  the  shot,  and  this  I  hold  to  be  absolutely 
fatal  to  the  art  of  coaching. 

Another  form  of  coaching  adopted  is  through  the 
printer.  An  ever-increasing  array  of  books  on 
4  How  to  do  this  '  and  '  How  not  to  do  it '  seems  to 
be  multiplying  furiously — a  sign,  I  suppose,  that  there 
is  a  public  to  buy.  Of  the  literature  on  the  game 
I  have  nothing  to  say.  If  an  acknowledged  genius 
writes  a  book  on  '  How  he  plays,'  it  is  naturally  of 
interest  to  all  sportsmen,  and  part  and  parcel  of  the 
game's  history.  I  have,  however,  little  to  say  in 
favour  of  text-books  on  the  game ;  at  any  rate  those 
which  I  have  seen  strike  me  as  being  useful  in  collecting 
methods  and  ideas,  and  harmless  if  not  taken  too 
seriously  ;  but  inasmuch  as  they  must  obviously  give 
details  of  several  ways  of  playing,  so  surely  will  they 
confuse  the  learner  as  to  which  system  to  adopt, 
creating  a  bewilderment  and  indecision  that  is  very 
difficult  to  lose. 

Read  everything  certainly,  but  view  what  you 
read  from  a  sensible  point  of  view.  Do  not  regard 
it  as  a  hypochondriac  does  the  advertisements  of 
quack  medicines.  Remember  the  man  who  wrote  the 
book  knows  nothing  whatever  about  you.  You  may 
be  as  nimble  as  a  ballet-dancer  or  as  clumsy  as  a 
hippopotamus,  you  may  have  the  '  spring '  of  a 


176  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

'Varsity  sprinter  or  about  as  much  as  the  cinder  path 
itself,  it  may  be  mind  sang  muscle  or  muscle  sans 
mind.  I  am  led,  therefore,  to  accept  the  old  tradition 
that  you  cannot  learn  games  from  a  book. 

This  drives  me  to  my  last  ditch,  that  the  only 
sensible  thing  to  do  if  you  want  advice  about  this 
game  is  to  go  to  your  local  practitioner.  If  you  have 
no  faith  in  him,  go  to  a  specialist ;  for  I  am  con- 
vinced that  he  is  much  more  likely  to  diagnose  your 
case  and  be  of  help  than  any  of  the  forms  of  coaching 
I  have  enumerated. 

Some  of  the  more  captious  of  my  readers  may  see 
in  this  only  an  advertisement  of  the  professional 
services.  Apart  from  the  real  answer  this  view  cannot 
hold,  for  I  would  respectfully  inform  them  of  the  fact 
that  more  of  the  professional's  hours  of  coaching  result 
from  indulging  in  amateur  instruction  than  from  any 
other  cause. 

It  must  not  be  taken  as  my  view  that  I  consider  all 
professionals  good  or  even  moderately  good  teachers. 
I  do  think,  however,  that  the  vast  majority  of  us  are 
well  qualified  to  give  first  aid,  and  to  cure  ordinary 
ailments  like  the  local  practitioner.  We  have  seen 
so  much  of  it.  The  worth  of  a  man  can  be  roughly 
gauged  by  the  fact  of  his  liking  or  disliking  this  part 
of  his  work.  If  he  can  be  drawn  on  to  confess  that  he 
heartily  dislikes  coaching,  then  it  is  clearly  time  to 
ask  yourself  whether  he  is  the  man  you  need.  I  am 
confident  that  a  man  who  likes  his  work  is  the  man  who 
gives  the  best  results. 

Another  opinion  I  hold,  contrary  to  that  of  so  many 


EDUCATIONAL  177 

golfers,  is  that  the  best  players  are  not  necessarily  the 
best  teachers.  This  is  an  accepted  truism  in  many 
forms  of  art,  but  in  golf  you  often  hear  the  really 
good  coach  snubbed  and  his  efforts  spoken  lightly 
of,  because  he  cannot  play  like  .  .  . 

In  this  connection  it  is  important  to  notice  that 
nearly  all  the  professionals  have  developed  their  game 
from  boyhood,  and  discovered  how  they  played  it 
afterwards.  Many  of  our  prominent  amateurs  have 
adopted  the  converse  method,  and  it  is  in  a  true 
appreciation  of  the  significance  of  this  fact  that  the 
answer  to  so  many  golf  queries  is  to  be  found.  I 
am  quite  aware  that  a  number  of  my  brother  profes- 
sionals are  just  as  guilty  as  the  amateurs  in  modelling 
their  pupil's  game  on  their  own,  but  I  am  convinced 
that  this  is  not  the  case  with  the  majority.  Let  me 
illustrate  what  I  write  by  a  picture  my  fancy  calls 
into  being.  Supposing  a  visitor  from  Mars  should  call 
one  evening  on,  say,  Harry  Vardon  or  J.  H.  Taylor, 
and  successfully  persuading  the  maid  that  his  business 
was  important,  was  then  shown  into  the  study  where 
the  great  man  was  enjoying  a  quiet  smoke  after  a 
hard  day  on  the  links.  The  visitor  further  persuades 
the  Champion  to  give  him  a  lesson  then  and  there  :  a 
club  is  brought  and  the  visitor  told  to  swing  at  an 
imaginary  ball  on  the  carpet;  he  does  so  and  repro- 
duces an  exact  copy  of  the  Champion  when  he  hits 
one  of  his  best.  I  fancy  I  hear  Vardon  murmur, 
'  Ah  !  not  so  bad ;  I  think  that  will  do  for  now ;  you 
seem  a  trifle  quick  in  shifting  your  balance  forward, 
and  that  kink  in  your  back  swing  is  a  danger  point ; 

M 


178  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

however,  come  down  to  the  links  in  the  morning  ' ;  or 
J.  H.  T.,  '  Well,  well,  there 's  something  to  be  said  for 
your  swing ;  a  trifle  snatchy  perhaps,  and  there 's  a 
decided  tendency  to  let  your  body  fall  back  on  your 
heels ;  but  come  round  to  the  course  in  the  morning, 
let 's  see  what  happens  to  the  ball/  And  the  visitor 
turns  up  in  the  morning  and  hits  half  a  dozen.  I 
feel  sure  both  these  champions  would  undoubtedly 
say,  '  I  cannot  teach  you  any  way  that  will  give  a 
better  result  than  that.  Keep  as  you  are.'  Now 
take  another  point  of  view :  supposing  the  visitor 
produces  Taylor's  swing  to  Vardon,  and  Vardon's 
swing  to  Taylor.  What  will  happen  at  the  evening 
interview  ?  I  think  a  non-committal  attitude  would  be 
adopted  by  both,  with  the  same  request  to  come  round 
to  the  course  in  the  morning  ;  and  when  they  each 
saw  the  half-dozen  balls  whizzing  down  the  straight,  I 
hold  both  will  give  exactly  the  same  advice  as  before. 

In  that  illustration  is  to  be  found  the  secret  of  all 
successful  coaching,  and  if  any  reader  sees  in  this 
only  the  system  of  laisser-faire,  he  is  wrong.  It  is 
meant  to  convey  a  very  different  idea. 

I  have  perhaps  laboured  this  point  because  I 
believe  it  so  important,  and  I  may  be  accused  of 
pointing  out  the  obvious,  but  then  I  am  not  convinced 
that  the  ordinary  man  is  very  good  at  grasping  the 
obvious.  What  I  am  convinced  of  is  that  it  is  nothing 
but  this  slavish  imitation  of  the  big  men,  who  admit 
themselves  that  they  owe  so  much  to  their  physical 
equipment,  that  prevents  so  many  golfers  reaching  the 
game  that  is  in  them. 


EDUCATIONAL  179 

My  own  practical  experience  in  the  art  of  coaching 
has  been  varied  and  unusually  interesting.  At  Oxford 
the  ever-changing  generations  of  '  Young  England ' 
were  always  supplying  all  kinds  of  material.  On 
looking  up  one  of  my  old  engagement  books,  I  find 
from  a  haphazard  selection  in  one  term  I  was  coaching 
an  old  Oxford  man  who  was  a  frontiersman  in  Western 
America  the  year  I  was  born — tall,  thin,  with  hardly 
an  ounce  of  superfluous  flesh,  keen  as  a  razor,  and 
with  decision  in  every  movement.  His  weight  was  a 
problem,  or  rather  the  want  of  it,  for  no  captain  of 
boats  would  have  considered  him  for  anything  else 
but  bow.  Well,  I  taught  him  a  full  swing,  noticeably 
slow,  and  before  I  left  he  was  playing  comfortably 
down  to  eight,  but  expecting  Anno  Domini  to  be 
putting  up  his  handicap  soon.  I  shall  always  remember 
the  games  I  played  with  him,  because  if  he  did  get 
annoyed  now  and  again,  he  always  swore  in  a  language 
picked  up  from  the  Indians  of  Mexico. 

Another  of  my  pupils  was  a  local  celebrity  whose 
fifth  waistcoat  button,  counting  from  the  top,  success- 
fully spoilt  a  view  he  once  had  of  a  rather  clumsy  pair 
of  feet.  All  the  agility  he  possessed  was  in  his  brain. 
I  always  suspected  the  doctor  had  a  hand  in  his 
taking  up  golf.  I  coaxed  him  into  a  style  more 
resembling  the  swinging  pendulum  of  a  clock :  it 
was  so  clearly  his  line  of  least  resistance,  and  I 
hammered  it  well  in.  Of  course  his  friends  did  their 
best  to  explain  how  wrong  it  all  was,  but  he  took  little 
notice  and  stuck  to  it,  and  very  soon  had  his  revenge 
by  rattling  their  half-crowns  in  his  pocket.  He  was 


180  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

a  perfect  trap  to  the  unwary.  His  handicap  was 
nine,  and  when  most  people  saw  his  swing  they 
jumped  at  the  idea  of  taking  him  on,  but  it  was 
mostly  he  that  did  the  taking.  He  was  invariably 
on  the  course  with  any  club,  short  in  length  naturally, 
but  he  knew  his  own  limitations,  and  never  took  any 
notice  of  what  his  opponent  was  doing. 

A  third  from  the  list  was  a  Rugby  trials  man,  some- 
what short  in  stature  but  finely  knit.  He  also  was 
encouraged  to  develop  a  short  backward  swing,  a  half- 
swing  most  people  would  call  it ;  his  swing  was  quite 
conspicuous  in  those  days.  His  first  handicap  allotted 
him  at  Oxford  was  twenty,  but  before  his  time  was  up 
he  played  first  for  Oxford  against  Cambridge,  and 
whenever  the  discussion  arises  among  old  'Varsity 
golfers  as  to  who  was  the  finest  player  that  ever 
played  top,  his  name  invariably  comes  up  for 
consideration. 

Those  three  were  all  at  work  during  the  same  term, 
and  I  mention  them  because  of  the  fact  that  all  three 
were  taught  to  develop  entirely  different  methods. 
Of  my  own  system  of  coaching  I  am  inclined  to  say 
little.  Each  pupil  I  look  upon  as  a  problem,  and 
diagnose  his  case  to  the  best  of  my  ability.  I  might 
say  that  I  have  found  it  best  to  start  with  the  short 
shots  first — the  mashie — and  work  upwards.  It  makes 
for  a  better  value  of  control,  and  I  keep  away  from  the 
course  until  ready  to  play  a  round,  for  I  have  found 
innate  in  most  beginners  a  thorough  dislike  for  spoiling 
turf.  If  he  jags  the  turf  with  his  first  effort,  he  will 
top  the  next  half-dozen  for  certain.  Off  the  course 


EDUCATIONAL  181 

you  can  instil  in  him  the  real  value  of  turf ;  and  I 
am  always  striving  to  effect  that  the  club  head  must 
be  travelling  on  the  line  of  flight  before  it  reaches  the 
ball  and  after  the  ball  has  gone.  All  other  matters 
depend  on  the  man. 

As  a  final  summing-up  of  what  I  consider  the  hall- 
mark of  good  coaching  let  me  suggest  the  following 
imaginary  case.  Should  I  ever  be  honoured  by  a 
visitor  from  Mars  selecting  me  for  his  coach — he 
knowing  nothing  whatever  about  this  noble  game, 
but  by  Nature  splendidly  equipped  with  all  the 
qualities  necessary  for  a  champion — I  feel  that  when 
he  had  entered  for  the  amateur  championship,  and 
had  shocked  the  great  men  and  caused  the  inevitable 
discussion  as  to  where  he  came  from,  no  one  would 
be  likely  to  say  '  that  man  was  taught  by  Sherlock.' 
If  I  am  wrong,  I  should  feel  that  I  had  ignominiously 
failed  in  my  trust. 

There  is  one  point  of  view  I  wish  to  mention,  and  at 
once  I  confess  my  own  mental  attitude  towards  it 
gives  me  no  satisfaction.  The  truth  is  I  feel  in  a 
state  of  chaos,  caused  by  an  innate  respect  for  author- 
ity warring  against  certain  ideas  accumulated  from 
observation  and  experience,  possibly  both  inadequate 
and  wrong.  The  question  that  puzzles  me  is  :  What 
are  the  so-called  essentials  of  the  golf  swing  and  what 
are  not  ?  Would  that  some  scientifically  trained 
mind  would  come  along,  and  by  comparison  and 
analysis  adjust  the  theory  to  fit  the  facts  and  settle 
the  confusion.  There  must  be  many  besides  myself 
who  would  be  grateful. 


182  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

No  advice,  in  my  judgment,  is  calculated  to  do  more 
harm  than  to  insist  that  certain  points  in  a  swing  are 
essential  if  they  are  not.  Numbers  of  people  who 
claim  to  have  thought  about  the  game  and  try  to 
prove  it  by  overmuch  talk,  together  with  the  small 
but  growing  army  of  authors,  are  all  guilty.  When 
they  do  definitely  state  what  are  these  essentials, 
they  deliver  themselves  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
They  seem  to  hold  as  a  rooted  axiom  that  there  must 
be  some  points  of  the  swing  that  all  successful  golfers 
have  in  common. 

What  seems  to  me  to  have  happened  in  the  past  is 
that  the  theory  of  the  '  correct  swing  '  was  formulated 
by  such  writers  as  the  author  of  the  Art  of  Golf,  a 
truly  great  book  that  no  golfer  can  afford  to  leave 
unread,  and  that  it  has  held  the  field  more  or  less 
ever  since.  The  author  apparently  had  a  shock  on 
the  appearance  of  the  Badminton,  which  he  frankly 
admits  in  the  preface  to  his  second  edition,  and  he 
attempts  an  explanation,  backing  himself  to  defend 
'  these  most  pregnant  and  important  theses '  :— 

(1)  There    are    many    points    of    style    which    are 

essential  to  effective  play. 

(2)  There  is  practical  unanimity  among  golfers  on 

recognising    the    effect    of    the    presence    or 
absence  of  most  of  these. 

The  third  doesn't  affect  my  point  for  the  present, 
so  I  don't  quote  it.  Now  how  far  in  the  light  of 
modern  golfers  would  Sir  W.  G.  Simpson  defend  these 
theses  to-day  ?  Were  they  ever  sound  ?  I  mentioned 


EDUCATIONAL  183 

the  Badminton,  and  I  advise  those  who  have  never 
read  it  to  do  so.  Two  important  plates  in  it  show 
'  the  top  of  the  swing  as  it  should  be '  and  '  end  of 
the  swing  as  it  should  not  be ' ;  another  plate  gives 
the  St.  Andrews  swing.  These  two  golfers,  for  it  is 
quite  well  known  whom  they  represent,  have  strangely 
different  methods.  The  result  we  know  they  shared 
— both  hitting  the  ball  very  far  and  very  straight. 

In  1898  there  came  that  fine  book  Golf  and  Golfers^ 
and  it  is  significant  of  the  progress  of  the  game  that 
such  a  book  should  have  been  issued.  It  contains 
a  splendid  collection  of  golf  swings,  embracing  practi- 
cally all  the  best  exponents  of  the  game  of  that  day, 
too  many  of  whom,  alas,  have  dropped  out.  Although 
too  much  reliance  must  not  be  placed  on  photography, 
for  it  often  lies,  and  a  golfer,  even  one  of  the  big  men, 
conscious  of  being  photographed,  produces  a  very 
different  picture  from  that  when  he  is  not  conscious, 
yet  for  the  purpose  of  observing  what  the  players 
have  in  common  the  photos  are  sound,  with  perhaps 
the  exception  of  Mr.  H.  G.  B.  Ellis's  two  examples. 
I  cannot  bring  myself  to  take  them  seriously,  as  they 
savour  too  much  of  an  uncontrollable  fit  of  joking, 
sadly  inopportune.1  If  there  is  one  lesson  to  be 
learnt  from  this  picture  gallery,  it  is  that  there 
are  dozens  of  successful  ways  of  producing  far  and 
straight  driving — many  have  more  than  one  point  in 
common,  but  no  one  point  is  common  to  all. 

The  frontispiece  to  the  book  is  a  '  finish  of  the 

1  I  can  assure  Sherlock  that  they  are  very  serious  pictures  and 
true  portraits  of  a  very  singular  player. — H.  G.  H. 


184  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

drive '  by  the  late  Lieutenant  Tait,  a  giant  even 
amongst  giants.  Carefully  examine  this  side  by  side 
with  his  other  photograph  on  page  144.  The  theorists 
have  always  appeared  to  me  a  little  too  fond  of  explain- 
ing away  a  fact  that  they  couldn't  fit  in  by  avowing 
that  the  Champion  (and  it  was  generally  a  champion 
that  gave  most  trouble)  was  so  clearly  a  genius  and 
thus  a  law  unto  himself.  Lieutenant  Tait  certainly 
caused  much  anxiety  with  his  right-hand  grip  and 
consequent  wrist  action. 

I  well  remember  the  flutter  and  excitement  caused 
by  Taylor  when  he  won  at  St.  Andrews.  There  was 
very  little  '  correct '  in  his  methods,  and  the  clubs 
he  used  were  mere  freaks.  Then  Vardon  came  and 
wrested  the  championship  away  from  Taylor  in  the 
famous  play-off  after  the  tie  at  Muirfield  in  1896. 
What  the  old  school  must  have  thought  about  these 
two  youngsters  from  over  the  border  can  only  be 
guessed.  Certainly  between  them  they  disregarded 
most  of  the  points  that  were  accepted  as  the  right 
way  of  playing  the  game.  Every  year  since,  the  list 
of  those  who  are  a  law  unto  themselves  has  been  added 
to.  Nowadays,  the  golfer  who  plays  with  a  style  all 
his  own  escapes  notice  even  at  St.  Andrews.  If  you 
doubt  this,  think  for  a  moment  what  would  have 
happened  if  Mr.  de  Montmorency  had  gone  twenty 
years  ago  and  annexed  the  Jubilee  vase,  as  he  did 
last  year,  with  his  egregious  but  horribly  effective 
methods.  I  can  imagine  the  feelings  of  the  Royal  and 
Ancient  being  so  outraged  that  a  special  train  would 
have  been  chartered — their  well-known  sense  of 


EDUCATIONAL  185 

courtesy  would  have  demanded  that — and  he  would 
promptly  have  been  ordered  south  of  the  Tweed. 

Before  me  as  I  write,  having  arrived  at  a  most 
opportune  time,  is  an  advertisement  of  yet  another 
golf  text-book.  It  contains  a  photograph  giving  a 
part  of  the  swing  with  a  driver,  and  printed  with  it, 
drawing  attention  to  a  certain  movement,  is  the  dictum 
4  this  is  essential  to  the  true  swing/  The  first  thing 
that  struck  me  was  that  at  any  rate  it  is  not  part  of 
my  swing,  and,  what  is  more  to  the  point,  neither  does 
it  form  part  of  the  swing  of  the  editor  of  this  book — 
to  go  no  further.  My  own  case  doesn't  count,  but  the 
editor  is  the  acknowledged  W.  G.  of  the  game,  and 
cannot  be  passed  over  lightly. 

Another  book  that  has  but  recently  seen  the  light 
of  day  is  expected  to  be  of  use  to  the  man  who  takes 
the  game  up  late  in  life.  To  my  mind  it  is  unfortunate 
that  the  illustrations  should  be  all  of  a  golfer  whose 
freedom  of  movement,  ease  and  agility  it  is  hard  to 
match  from  amongst  the  best  of  the  younger  school. 
Exuberance  is  marked  in  nearly  every  photograph. 
Is  it  wise  for  many  people,  especially  those  of  middle 
age,  to  try  and  emulate  such  a  method  ? 

An  enlightening  experiment,  if  it  were  possible, 
would  be  to  parade  the  first  twenty  men,  starting  at 
any  club  in  the  British  Isles,  and  carefully  note  how 
they  are  equipped  to  play  games.  Height,  length  of 
limb,  power  of  wrists,  arms,  hands,  etc.,  balance, 
quickness  of  movement,  etc.  etc.  etc.  Having  done 
this,  face  the  question  :  Is  it  likely  to  be  the  soundest 
advice  that  these  men  should  be  coached,  drilled,  or 


186  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

a  better  word  still  is  c  bent,'  to  adopt  one  stereotyped 
form  of  swing  ?  Is  it  not  more  feasible  to  bend  the 
game  within  limits  to  fit  the  man  ?  If  there  is  some- 
thing to  be  said  for  this  idea,  the  truth  will  probably 
be  found  in  a  scientific  combination  of  both,  and  here, 
'  you  writer  of  golf  books,  is  a  subject  made  to  your 
hand.'  But  in  the  meantime  don't  frighten  good 
men  or  shake  the  confidence  of  true  men  with  all  this 
talk  about  essentials. 


CHAPTER  II 
MY  OWN  GAME 

THE  editor  expressed  a  desire  that  I  should  write 
something  about  my  own  game — the  way  I  play  the 
different  shots,  and  my  reason  for  so  doing,  that  is 
if  I  can  discover  any  special  reason.  It  will  be 
gathered,  I  trust,  from  what  I  have  previously  written, 
that  I  do  not  mean  this  for  a  guide  as  to  how  others 
should  play  ;  I  only  hope  it  may  contain  new  ideas 
for  some,  and  for  others  encouragement  to  go  on  with 
methods  already  formed. 

The  first  thing  that  strikes  me  as  worthy  of  attention, 
and  as  playing  a  very  important  part  in  determining 
how  I  should  play  the  game,  is  my  build  and  weight. 
I  stand  5  feet  8|  inches  and  weigh  9  stone  10  Ibs. 
Further,  I  must  confess  that  I  have  not  been  gifted 
with  a  large  supply  of  muscle  or  strength.  If  the 
game  demanded  the  application  of  sheer  strength 
I  should  be  but  a  sorry  muddler,  but  let  it  be  at  once 
understood  that  it  does  not. 

I  have  often  been  amused  by  reading  paragraphs 
in  which  I  am  described  as  being  '  well  set  up/  '  of 
firm  and  strong  build.'  Only  a  week  or  two  ago  a 
golfing  paper  informed  me  that  '  a  big  and  powerful 

187 


188  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

pair  of  wrists  *  played  an  important  part  in  the  firm 
manner  in  which  I  played  my  iron  shots. 

If  the  truth  must  be  told,  my  wrists  and  forearm 
seem  to  me  to  have  stopped  growing  since  I  was  ten 
years  of  age,  for  they  are  far  from  being  big  and 
powerful.  My  little  daughter,  who  can  stretch  little 
more  than  an  octave  on  the  piano,  can  with  the  same 
ease  encompass  my  wrist. 

Do  not  imagine  for  a  moment  that  this  lack  of 
strength  worries  me.  I  draw  attention  to  it  because 
it  necessarily  decided  the  lines  on  which  my  game  has 
developed.  Big  strong  men  have  much  to  be  thankful 
for,  but  they  have  also,  in  consequence  of  this  strength, 
much  to  watch  and  guard  against. 

The  rest  of  my  anatomy  is  built  in  proportion. 
Perhaps  I  ought  to  mention  a  pair  of  feet  which  serve 
me  well  at  all  times,  and  which  are  neither  too  heavy 
nor  too  big. 

These  details  are  worth  mentioning  if  only  to 
encourage  those  players  who  are  built  on  similar  lines  ; 
they  all  too  frequently  get  it  into  their  heads  that 
they  can  never  succeed  because  they  have  no  strength 
or  wrists  to  speak  of.  What  I  would  suggest  is  that 
they  must  direct  their  attention,  as  I  do,  to  different 
methods  from  those  of  the  strong  men. 

The  Grip.  I  hold  my  club  with  both  hands  close 
together,  but  not  overlapping.  The  left  hand  grips 
firmly  with  the  three  fingers,  the  fork  of  the  first 
finger  and  thumb  is  on  the  top  of,  and  pointing 
straight  down,  the  shaft,  the  thumb  and  first  finger 
lap  round  the  club  and  find  a  place  out  of  the  way, 


I..! 


DRIVING:  SHOWING  GRIP  AND  STANCE 


[To  face  p.  189 


MY  OWN  GAME  189 

since  they  are  not  called  upon  to  take  an  active 
part  in  making  the  stroke.  The  right  hand  grips  much 
in  the  same  way  as  the  left  with  the  three  fingers,  but 
more  loosely,  and  is  held  more  under  the  club,  so  that 
the  fork  of  the  thumb  and  first  finger  is  not  on  the 
top  but  to  the  side  of  the  club,  about  midway  between 
a  point  that  would  mark  the  centre  of  the  top  and  a 
point  that  would  mark  the  centre  of  the  side.  I  wish 
the  exact  position  of  the  right  hand  to  be  clearly 
understood,  because  of  the  subsequent  movement 
the  wrists  and  arms  have  to  perform.  My  grip  will 
be  recognised  as  differing  only  in  this  detail  from  the 
old-fashioned  orthodox  method  commonly  known  as 
the  '  V  '  grip,  and  the  only  mannerism — and  I  use 
the  word  because  I  feel  the  action  has  no  particular 
value,  but  nevertheless  should  be  noted — is  that  at 
the  top  of  the  swing  the  grip  of  the  right  hand  slackens, 
so  that  the  shaft  falls  into  the  fork  between  the  thumb 
and  finger,  but  directly  the  backward  swing  commences 
the  fingers  fasten  on  again  and  the  club  is  held  per- 
fectly rigid.  And  let  it  be  remembered,  this  mannerism 
is  quite  common  amongst  the  '  V  '  grippers. 

The  grip  of  the  right  hand  must  by  no  means  be 
confused  with  what  is  known  as  the  '  Palm '  grip, 
that  is,  holding  the  club  in  the  palm  of  the  hand  so 
that  the  back  of  the  hand  falls  underneath  the  shaft. 
Many  fine  players  have  adopted  this  grip  and  un- 
doubtedly drive  far  and  straight,  but  I  do  not  like 
it :  it  looks  clumsy,  and  I  venture  to  say  it  means 
trouble  unless  you  are  careful.  And  for  this  reason. 
If  you  have  a  full  swing,  there  is  a  necessary  move- 


190  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

ment  of  the  arms  from  the  elbow  joint,  often  incorrectly 
called  the  wrist  action  (of  which  more  anon),  and  by 
gripping  underneath  with  the  right  hand  you  start  by 
cramping  that  action,  and  in  consequence  something 
has  to  happen  during  the  downward  swing  in  order 
to  readjust  matters.  You  can  easily  see  what  I  mean 
by  gripping  a  club  and  noticing  the  different  positions 
of  the  right  and  left  wrists. 

My  opinion  of  the  overlapping  grip  is  that  its 
effectiveness  depends  entirely  on  the  strength  of 
fingers  and  forearm.  It  would  be  useless  for  players 
to  attempt  it  who  have  no  more  power  in  their  wrists 
and  fingers  than  I  have.  It  is  a  very  valuable  grip 
for  those  people  who  have  a  powerful  right  hand  that 
is  always  wanting  to  do  more  than  its  proper  share  of 
the  work  ;  then  the  overlapping  will  be  found  to  help 
tremendously,  because  it  effects  the  getting  rid  of 
part  of  the  right  hand,  and  therefore  strikes  a  better 
balance  between  the  two.  There  is  no  need  to  think, 
however,  that  the  overlapping  grip  has  any  particular 
value  over  any  other  grip. 

The  Stance.  When  one  has  gripped  the  club  com- 
fortably, the  next  point  to  settle  is  how  to  stand. 
My  ordinary  stance  for  a  straight  shot  is  slightly 
open  :  that  means  that  if  I  drew  a  line  from  the  toe 
of  my  right  foot,  I  should  find  the  toe  of  my  left  foot 
about  a  couple  of  inches  inside  that  line ;  and  if  you 
drew  another  line  from  the  ball  towards  me,  it  would 
miss  my  left  heel  by  about  three  inches.  I  stand 
upright,  but  there  is  a  distinct  crouch  about  the 
shoulders,  though  not  much  of  a  bend  in  the  back. 


MY  OWN  GAME  191 

This  means  the  legs  are  not  very  wide  apart  for  a 
man  of  my  height.  My  weight  is  kept  well  back  on 
my  heels,  and  I  stand  just  as  far  away  from  the  ball 
as  will  allow  of  this.  This  question  of  weight  is  a 
most  important  one.  Guard  against  your  weight 
being  on  your  toes :  this  means  that  you  are  too  far 
away  from  the  ball,  and  you  are  courting  trouble  for 
certain.  It  is  a  very  good  plan  when  you  are  settled 
to  see  if  you  can  lift  your  toes  off  the  ground  without 
falling  forward ;  if  you  cannot,  creep  nearer  the  ball 
until  you  can.  Of  course  this  suggestion  is  only 
relating  to  the  weight,  it  must  not  be  interpreted  as 
a  defence  for  standing  close  to  the  ball — far  from  it, 
for  I  am  a  great  believer  in  standing  as  far  away  as 
possible,  always  of  course  considering  the  shape  of 
one's  swing  and  the  length  of  club. 

One  has  always  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  stance  must 
be  altered  according  to  the  shot  required.  For 
instance,  if  you  have  a  hanging  lie  through  the  green 
or  if  you  want  to  hold  a  ball  up  into  a  wind,  then  you 
naturally  attack  the  ball  from  a  different  position. 


(a)  THE  SWING 

Imagine  that  you  have  gripped  the  club  comfortably, 
taken  up  your  stance  and  feel  quite  satisfied,  and  that 
the  ball  is  teed  ready  for  you  to  drive.  Now  comes 
the  serious  business  of  swinging  or  hitting  the  ball 
as  straight  and  as  far  as  possible.  And  this  is  how 
I  attempt  to  do  it. 

My  first  movement  causes  my  hands  and  arms  to 


192  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

pick  the  club  head  off  the  ground  at  once,  inwards, 
in  a  direction  towards  my  right  leg  but  well  outside 
it.  Note  that  there  is  no  sign  of  the  club  head  dragging 
along  the  turf.  Almost  simultaneously  my  left  knee 
bends  inwards,  the  left  heel  leaves  the  ground,  and  the 
balance  of  the  body  presses  the  ball  of  the  left  foot  into 
the  ground.  As  the  club  is  taken  back  and  up,  the 
right  elbow  keeps  low  and  slides  round  the  body. 

There  is  but  the  slightest  sign  of  the  hands  and 
wrists  turning  until  the  club  has  gone  quite  halfway 
on  its  journey  upwards,  but  from  that  point  you  can 
plainly  see  the  hands  and  wrists  turn  until  they  fall 
directly  underneath  the  shaft  as  the  club  lies 
horizontal  above  the  shoulders,  with  the  nose  of  the 
head  pointing  straight  to  the  ground.  Meanwhile, 
the  left  shoulder  has  come  round,  but  the  body  has 
not  swayed  backwards.  I  can  still  see  the  ball  with 
both  eyes  (and  if  you  cannot  it  is  a  sure  sign  that  the 
body  has  moved),  and  the  balance  of  weight  is  still 
very  much  as  when  I  started,  only  it  is  the  inside  of 
the  left  foot  and  not  the  heel  that  now  receives  the 
pressure. 

When  the  club  has  reached  the  limit  of  the  upward 
swing  I  can  feel  instinctively  where  the  head  of  the 
club  is.  There  is  no  '  Soppiness  '  of  the  wrists  allowing 
the  club  to  fall  at  the  top.  This  is  prevented  by  the 
grip  of  the  left  hand.  I  have  not  taken  back  the 
club  hurriedly,  and  consequently  there  is  no  trouble 
about  where  it  must  stop.  The  downward  swing  is 
begun  by  the  hands,  and  the  right  shoulder  is  made 
to  follow.  The  wrists  and  hands  do  their  turning  much 


DRIVING:  TOP  OF  SWING 


[To  face  p.  192 


/*  ::•*:•!: '*•'•: 

/'•«:  ;•  :,• :  •.•   ' 


:^' 


DRIVING :  FINISH  OF  S^  I  N< ; 


\Tn  are  p.  193 


MY  OWN  GAME  193 

nearer  the  ball  than  in  the  upward  swing.  Another 
difference  I  am  conscious  of  in  the  two  halves  of  the 
swing  is,  that  the  head  of  the  club  is  travelling  on  the 
line  of  flight  an  inch  or  two  before  it  reaches  the  ball. 
This  I  attribute  to  the  fact  that  I  always  try  and 
hit  away  from  myself.  Naturally  the  club  is  travelling 
very  much  faster,  for  my  intention  is  not  to  stop  at 
that  little  white  ball  but  to  go  clean  through  it,  and 
the  impetus  gained  should  carry  my  arms  well  out, 
bring  my  right  shoulder  round,  and  drag  my  right  foot 
from  its  moorings.  My  head  and  body  will  be  after 
all  this  at  least  a  foot  nearer  the  hole.  So  much  for 
the  attempt. 

It  will  be  easily  recognised  that  there  are  several 
points  in  this  swing  that  differ  from  the  general  rules 
of  instruction.  My  footwork  starts  very  soon,  there 
is  no  waiting  until  the  upward  swing  drags  the  left 
knee  round  and  the  left  heel  off  the  ground.  I  hold 
it  is  wrong  for  this  movement  to  begin  the  swing,  it 
must  be  made  to  follow  the  lead  of  the  hands  and  arms, 
but  how  soon  will  depend  on  the  nimbleness  or  clumsi- 
ness of  the  player. 

My  weight  is  never  transferred  from  the  left  to  the 
right  leg.  Rather,  as  far  as  one  can  tell,  it  remains 
the  same  all  through  the  swing,  or  at  any  rate  until 
the  ball  has  been  struck,  when  naturally  the  following 
through  carries  the  weight  on  to  the  left  leg. 

I  can  feel  that  the  downward  swing  is  begun  by  the 
hands,  and  the  right  shoulder  begins  coming  round 
soon  afterwards.  This  point  should  be  noticed  by 
all  who  suffer  from  slicing.  There  is  no  more  common 

V 


194  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

fault  than  to  start  the  downward  swing  with  the 
shoulders,  especially  amongst  moderately  good  players 
who  have  acquired  quite  a  decent  swing.  It  means 
that  the  ball  will  swerve  away  to  the  right  at  the 
end  of  the  flight.  Another  very  important  point 
I  have  alluded  to  is  what  I  have  called  hitting 
away  from  you.  This  is  not  easy  to  explain  on  paper, 
although  simple  enough  on  a  golf-course.  However, 
here  is  a  test  whereby  any  one  may  prove  the  point 
himself.  The  next  time  you  take  a  divot  with  any 
club,  carefully  examine  the  scalp  mark  and  see  which 
way  it  is  pointing.  If  it  is  pointing  to  the  left  of  the 
line  to  the  hole,  you  have  undoubtedly  hit  towards 
yourself ;  if  it  is  pointing  the  opposite  side  of  the 
line,  you  have  struck  away. 

Now,  if  you  keep  well  in  your  mind  the  idea  of 
hitting  away,  you  will  be  pretty  certain  to  avoid  the 
hitting  towards  ;  and  it  is  this  which  is  so  important 
in  driving.  There  is  no  point  upon  which  one  should 
more  strongly  insist. 

I  am  not  afraid  that  many  will  succeed  in  actually 
hitting  past  the  ball,  because  of  the  stance  and  the 
position  of  the  ball,  but  the  effort  to  do  so  will 
invariably  result  in  the  ball  taking  a  straight  flight. 

If  this  idea  were  more  generally  understood  and 
acted  upon,  chronic  slicing  would  be  much  less  common 
than  it  is. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  I  differ  from  a  number  of  the 
experts  in  the  turning  of  my  hands  and  wrists  in  taking 
the  club  back.  The  movement  comes  very  much  later, 
and  at  no  time  can  it  be  said  that  the  face  of  the  club 


MY  OWN  GAME  195 

*  is  almost  looking  up  to  heaven/  as  Mr.  Darwin 
thinks  it  should.  I  believe  he  will  find  that  very  few 
of  the  '  V '  grippers  turn  the  club  out  so  much  as  that. 
I  certainly  condemn  it  as  unnecessary,  and  I  should 
correct  it  in  a  pupil,  since  it  is  likely  to  exaggerate  the 
wrist  action  and  to  cause  4  foundering  '  or  slicing, 
owing  to  the  extra  effort  needed  to  get  the  club  head 
back  square.  However,  I  intend  to  say  more  about 
the  wrist  action  later. 

The  last  point  to  notice  in  my  swing  is  that  it  cannot 
be  said  that  both  halves  are  alike.  Now,  it  is  a  very 
serious  fallacy  in  my  opinion  to  hold,  that  c  once  get 
the  backward  swing  correct,  the  downward  swing  will 
follow  automatically.'  Would  that  it  did.  Every 
club  then  would  soon  be  boasting  of  its  plus  players, 
and  scratch  men  would  be  too  common  to  worry  about. 
Coaching  as  a  means  of  livelihood  would  be  a  very 
hard  lot,  but  there  would  be  this  consolation,  that  it 
would  be  comparatively  easy.  No,  this  idea  cannot 
be  allowed  to  stand  for  a  moment — my  own  experience 
shows  that  it  is  in  the  downward  swing  that  the  faults 
creep  in.  There  are  plenty  of  players  I  know  who 
take  the  club  back  correctly  in  every  detail,  but  they 
can  never  be  trusted  to  hit  the  ball  straight.  Perhaps 
it  is  because  they  are  conscious  of  nearing  the  work 
in  hand.  I  unhesitatingly  say  that  most  of  the  faults 
that  I  am  called  upon  to  correct,  in  coaching  old 
players  who  are  off  their  game,  are  faults  in  the 
downward  swing. 

I  feel  it  is  important  that  golfers  should  be  taught 
to  recognise  that  bringing  the  club  back  correctly  is 


196  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

just  as  difficult,  if  not  more  so,  than  taking  the  club 
up  correctly.  And  when  all  these  important  points 
have  been  carefully  noted  and  are  understood,  it  must 
be  clear  in  your  mind  exactly  what  it  is  you  are  trying 
to  effect  by  the  swing.  This  is  what  I  think  should 
be  aimed  at — and  here  I  include  every  description  of 
swings,  'quarter-swings,'  '  half  -swings,'  'full  swings' 
and  '  hits ' — viz.  to  bring  back  the  club  head  perfectly 
square  to  the  ball  and  to  let  it  travel  on  the  exact 
line  of  flight  you  wish  the  ball  to  take,  at  least  two 
inches  before  the  ball  is  reached  and  as  long  as  you 
can  make  it  after  the  ball  has  been  struck.  To  do 
this  in  the  backward  swing  or  (more  important  still) 
in  the  downward  swing,  never  let  the  club  head  or 
any  part  of  it  be  outside  the  ball.  If  this  is  not  clear 
without  a  diagram,  draw  the  line  of  flight  back  from 
the  ball  for  some  three  feet.  If  your  club  head  at 
any  moment  during  the  downward  swing  gets  outside 
that  line,  it  will  require  a  miracle  to  make  the  ball 
fly  straight. 

My  last  piece  of  advice  about  driving  is  this.  Form 
an  opinion  as  early  as  possible,  but  not  hastily,  as  to 
what  is  to  be  your  style,  and  then  stick  to  it.  Do 
not  be  led  to  abandon  it  by  the  first  man  who  beats 
you,  and  start  practising  other  methods.  Remember 
that  however  long  a  driver  you  may  be,  you  will  be 
sure  to  meet  some  one  who  can  get  a  bit  further. 
Learn  what  is  your  maximum  length  and  be  satisfied ; 
take  no  notice  of  tipsters. 

The  number  of  golfers  who  are  continually  trying 
tips  to  enable  them  to  drive  further  than  Nature 


tCC  c  <C<  <(  f 

cl  V 


IRON  SHOT:  STANCE  AND  GRIP 


[To  face  p.  197 


MY  OWN  GAME  197 

intended  them  to,  is  legion.  The  result  is  that  they 
never  know  how  they  want  to  hit  the  ball,  and  can 
never  be  relied  on  to  hit  the  ball  when  wanted. 

Steadiness  is  after  all  the  best  kind  of  brilliancy. 

About  playing  through  the  green  with  wooden 
clubs  there  is  no  need  to  say  much.  If  the  lie  is  good 
it  is  just  driving  over  again.  Of  course,  if  there  is  a 
downhill  lie  or  an  uphill  lie  the  stance  must  be  altered 
to  suit,  but  there  is  no  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
these  points,  and  enough  instruction  has  been  written 
already  upon  them.  It  would  be  waste  of  space  for 
me  to  repeat  it. 

I  must  confess  to  a  distinct  liking  for  playing  my 
spoon.  It  has  a  fairly  long  shallow  face  and  a  stiff 
shaft  only  some  two  inches  shorter  than  that  of  my 
brassie.  I  swing  for  a  full  shot  with  this  club  in  just 
the  same  way  as  I  do  with  a  driver.  I  frequently 
use  it  for  short  shots — checking  the  backward  swing — 
and  much  prefer  it  to  a  cleek. 


(6)  IRON  CLUBS 

The  cleek  I  play  with  a  full  swing,  only  because  I 
cannot  get  the  distance  required  without.  With 
the  rest  of  the  iron  clubs  I  find  my  grip  and  stance 
slightly  altered.  I  stand  with  the  ball  much  nearer 
my  right  foot,  and  the  stance  is  decidedly  more  open. 
In  the  grip  the  right  hand  is  more  over  the  shaft  and 
the  thumb  and  first  finger  are  brought  into  active 
service ;  as  the  distance  to  cover  becomes  shorter, 
so  the  backward  swing  automatically  shortens. 


198  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

In  playing  iron  shots  I  find  it  a  great  help  almost  to 
pause  at  the  top  of  the  swing,  as  Braid  advocates. 
This  seems  to  ensure  more  accurate  hitting.  With 
regard  to  the  '  push-shot,'  I  must  confess  I  never  could 
see  much  difference  between  that  and  the  ordinary 
firmly  hit  iron  shot. 

I  always  carry  a  special  straight-faced  iron  (more 
upright  in  lie  than  any  ordinary  iron),  and  use  it  for 
low  shots  against  a  strong  wind.  I  aim  to  pinch  the 
ball  into  the  turf  more  decidedly,  and  rely  on  the 
absence  of  loft  on  the  club  to  keep  the  ball  low.  The 
only  important  points  to  insist  on  in  iron  shots  are  the 
control  of  the  backward  swing,  and  the  keeping  of 
the  club  head  on  the  line  of  flight  as  long  as  possible 
after  the  ball  has  gone.  Remember  that  the  full 
shot  with  the  shorter  irons  is  limited  to  what  is  called 
the  l  half -swing  '  in  driving.  Anything  fuller  than 
this  is  quite  unnecessary  and  seldom  successful. 

In  mashie  play  the  principle  of  the  shortened 
backward  swing  is  carried  still  further,  since  it  becomes 
automatically  shorter  as  the  distance  is  shorter.  There 
is  the  same  grip  and  the  same  method  of  taking  the 
club  back,  only  the  stance  becomes  more  open.  And 
the  more  open  stance  has  the  effect  of  keeping  the 
club  head  moving  straight  back  from  the  ball  longer 
than  in  the  other  shots.  Success  with  the  mashie  is 
just  a  question  of  accurately  hitting  the  ball  and 
judging  the  distance.  Practice  and  experience  will 
teach  you  how  the  ball  runs,  that  is  to  say,  if  you  can 
remember  how  the  different  conditions  of  weather 
affect  the  course. 


IRON  SHOT :  TOP  OF  SWING 


[To  face  p.  198 


IRON  SHOT:  FINISH  OF  SWING 


[To  face  p.  199 


MY  OWN  GAME  199 

I  am  a  great  believer  in  taking  a  small  piece  of  turf 
after  the  ball,  it  has  a  steadying  effect  on  the  shot. 
Do  not,  however,  stab  in  behind  the  ball  so  that  a 
huge  chunk  of  turf  comes  out ;  that  is  anything  but 
satisfactory,  even  if  the  ball  reaches  the  green.  A 
very  short  period  of  instruction  will  be  needed  to 
teach  you  exactly  how  you  ought  to  strike  the  ball, 
and  the  rest  is  simply  acquiring  a  regular  habit  of 
putting  it  into  practice. 

(c)  WRIST  ACTION 

I  feel  that  I  ought  here  to  state  concisely  and  as 
clearly  as  I  can  my  opinion  about  wrist  action.  No 
part  of  the  golf  stroke  seems  to  me  to  be  less  under- 
stood or  to  cause  so  much  confusion  ;  no  doubt  much 
of  this  confusion  results  from  the  name  itself.  I 
feel  that  if  the  instructors  of  the  game  would  always 
explain  that  the  action  they  write  about  starts  at  the 
elbow  joint,  much  of  the  misunderstanding  would  be 
cleared  away.  What  I  mean  by  c  wrist  action '  is 
just  the  turning  over  of  the  wrist,  forearm  and  hand, 
either  outwards  or  inwards. 

No  independent  action  of  the  wrist  other  than 
this,  with  any  club  except  the  putter,  is  in  my  opinion 
necessary  or  admissible. 

I  consider  the  common  theory  that  the  wrists 
should  be  used  independently  in  the  mashie  shot  to 
be  quite  erroneous ;  the  action  is  totally  unnecessary, 
and  therefore  likely  to  produce  mistiming.  I  am 
fully  aware  that  this  idea  clashes  with  that  held 


200  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

by  some  of  the  greatest  exponents  of  the  game, 
but  I  am,  nevertheless,  prepared  to  defend  my 
opinion. 

First  I  will  take  this  '  wrist-shot '  as  played  with 
the  mashie.  The  advocates  instruct  that  the  '  club 
should  be  taken  back  rather  upright  with  the  wrists.' 
Now  what  I  want  to  know  is,  whether  this  action  of 
the  wrists  is  to  be  repeated  exactly  in  the  same  place 
in  the  downward  swing.  If  so,  then  reflect  for  a 
moment  what  that  means.  Remember  that  the 
arms,  hands,  and  wrists  are  obliged  to  go  through  a 
slight  turning  movement  on  their  way  to  the  ball, 
whatever  theory  is  held. 

Now  in  this  theory  under  discussion  the  wrists  are 
to  do  a  particular  work  on  their  own  account  for 
something  like  a  second  or  even  less  immediately 
before  the  ball  is  struck. 

If  this  is  not  so,  then  the  only  other  explanation 
is  that  the  particular  work  of  the  wrists  is  never 
introduced  into  the  downward  swing  at  all. 

One  important  point,  I  think,  in  discussing  the 
question  is  always  lost  sight  of — the  enormous 
difference  between  the  wrists,  say,  of  Vardon,  Taylor, 
and  Braid  and  the  majority  of  the  rest  of  us.  The 
size  and  strength  of  their  wrists  would  compare  very 
favourably  with  the  size  of  our  forearms.  When  they 
think  they  are  allowing  their  wrists  a  little  play, 
then  the  rigidity  is  probably  as  great  as  when  we 
deliberately  hold  our  wrists  taut.  Think  what  this 
independent  wrist  action  means  to  players  with 
feeble  wrists.  I  have  known  many  of  the  latter 


MASHIE  SHOT:  STANCE  AND  GRtP 


[To  face  p.  201 


MY  OWN  GAME  201 

assiduously  practise  the  *  mashie  wrist-shot/  but  I 
have  never  known  one  really  succeed  in  it. 

I  do  not  say  that  this  way  of  playing  the  shot 
cannot  be  made  effective,  but  what  I  do  say  is,  that 
it  is  a  very  much  more  difficult  way  of  playing  than 
is  necessary,  and,  indeed,  the  simpler  way  is  difficult 
enough.  To  sum  up,  I  maintain  the  theory  that  the 
short  mashie  shot  should  be  played  with  the  wrists 
independent  of  the  forearm  ought  to  be  denounced  as 
a  mistake.  Again,  as  regards  '  wrist  action ' — by  that 
I  mean  the  action  from  the  elbow  joint  (i.e.  the 
turning  over  of  the  forearms,  wrists,  and  hands  acting 
together) — the  school  which  advocates  that  this  turn- 
ing movement  should  deliberately  begin  immediately 
the  club  leaves  the  ball  in  the  backward  swing,  have 
never  explained  why  it  should  do  so,  nor  have  they 
pointed  out  any  advantage  to  be  gained  by  it.  Every 
one  admits  that  a  certain  turning  of  the  wrists  is 
inevitable,  but  the  important  point  to  settle  is,  how 
much  is  necessary  and  how  much  is  superfluous,  and 
when  the  turning  should  start. 

Now  the  people  who  in  driving  or  in  mashie  play 
start  the  movement  immediately  are  faced  with  this 
danger.  If,  as  I  presume  they  expect,  the  movement 
repeats  itself  in  the  downward  swing,  what  are  the 
chances  that  this  turning  will  bring  the  club  head 
back  square  exactly  at  the  moment  when  the  club 
head  comes  in  contact  with  the  ball  ?  Remember 
what  this  movement  is  doing  all  the  time  to  the  head 
of  the  club.  Further,  if  you  begin  turning  at  once, 
I  think  you  run  a  very  great  danger  of  continuing 


202  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

much  too  long,  and  this  all  tends  towards  exaggerating 
the  difficulties  of  getting  the  club  head  square  to  the 
ball  at  the  moment  of  impact.  Any  exaggeration 
is  a  risk  to  be  avoided,  and  unless  the  advocates  of 
this  system  can  claim  for  it  any  special  advantages 
which  are  not  obvious  to  me,  I  shall  pin  my  faith  to 
the  old  saying  that  the  easiest  way  to  play  a  shot  is 
always  the  best.  To  me  the  simpler  way  is  to  get  this 
turning  movement  finished  before  the  face  of  the  club 
strikes  the  ball,  and  to  do  as  little  turning  as  possible. 

One  thing  is  certain,  namely,  that  with  many  golfers 
this  turning  movement  is  the  direct  cause  of  constant 
slicing,  and  of  every  other  form  of  mistake  which  results 
from  the  face  of  the  club  not  being  square  to  the  ball 
at  the  time  of  impact. 

Years  ago,  before  I  thought  much  for  myself,  I 
remember  being  puzzled  by  a  player,  whose  skill  I 
much  respected,  explaining  to  me  that  he  gained  the 
extra  distance  off  the  tee  by  the  flick  of  his  wrists. 
I  am  inclined  to  believe  now  that  he  was  mistaken, 
and  simply  deceived  himself.  Mr.  Darwin,  far-sighted 
critic  as  he  undoubtedly  is,  appears  to  entertain  quite 
wrong  opinions  about  this  '  wrist '  question.  I  do  not 
think  his  idea  of  the  right  wrist  action  in  the  running- 
up  shot  at  all  sound.  I  am  quite  aware  that  in  his 
theory  he  follows  the  lead  of  the  east  of  Scotland 
school,  but  I  never  could  see  much  in  the  particular 
methods  they  advocate ;  in  fact,  all  the  talk  about 
turning  over  the  right  wrist  to  make  the  ball  run  up- 
hill is  to  me  nothing  but  sheer  nonsense.  Briefly, 
what  they  do  is  this.  They  take  a  lofted  iron  club  and 


MASHIE  SHOT :  TOP  OF  SWING 


[To  face  p.  20 


MASHIE  SHOT:  FINISH  OF  SWING 


MY  OWN  GAME  203 

then  stand  so  much  in  front  of  the  ball  that  most  of 
the  loft  is  made  valueless,  and  the  striking  of  the  ball 
has  varying  results.  Sometimes  it  scuttles  along, 
thus  showing  plainly  that  it  has  been  smothered. 
At  other  times  it  pitches  and  runs  with  a  drag  in  the 
same  way  as  an  ordinary  straightforward  shot  would. 
Now,  if  they  deliberately  aim  at  hitting  the  ball  whilst 
the  head  of  the  club  is  actually  turning  over,  then 
all  I  can  say  is  that  that  kind  of  shot  in  no  way  appeals 
to  me.  How  can  they  hope  to  gauge  the  exact  amount 
of  turning  to  be  done  at  the  exact  moment  the  club 
hits  the  ball  ?  Their  calculations  must  necessarily 
often  be  inaccurate,  because  the  time  taken  over  the 
stroke  is  so  short,  and  the  ball  does  not  tend  to  hang  to 
the  club,  owing  to  its  great  resiliency. 

I  have  seen  a  photograph  of  a  well-known  profes- 
sional '  at  the  finish  of  the  shot '  with  his  right  wrist 
turned  over  so  much  that  the  nose  of  the  iron  looks 
as  if  it  is  going  to  dig  into  the  ground.  Now  why 
is  this  the  *  correct  way  to  finish  '  ? 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  theory  is  only  part  of  a 
large  conspiracy  to  make  out  that  every  shot  in  this 
game  is  more  difficult  than  it  really  is.  The  art  of  golf 
is  difficult  enough  in  all  conscience,  and  for  goodness 
sake  let  us  have  done  with  all  these  decorations  and  frills. 

I  can  claim  to  be  pretty  familiar  with  '  running-up 
shots.'  At  Stoke  you  can  get  a  good  many  of  them. 
I  play  them  with  an  ordinary  iron  ;  my  wrists  and 
hands  turn  much  as  with  ordinary  shots,  and  I  never 
attempt  to  make  a  special  turning  movement  with  my 
right  wrist. 


204  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

In  estimating  the  amount  of  force  with  which  to 
strike  the  ball,  the  thing  to  acquire  is  what  billiard 
players  call  '  touch/  and  always  to  guard  against 
cutting  the  ball ;  in  other  words,  one  must  hit  the  ball 
accurately.  The  rest  is  a  mere  question  of  ability  to 
judge  distance  and  the  condition  of  the  ground. 

If  Mr.  Darwin  insists  that  this  turning  of  the  right 
wrist  is  important  in  the  stroke,  I  will  undertake  to 
demonstrate  when  he  next  visits  Stoke  that  in  my  way 
of  playing  it  is  quite  superfluous,  and  he  shall  be  left 
to  decide  which  way  is  the  simpler  and  more  effective. 

As  to  playing  out  of  bunkers  or  hazards,  I  shall 
say  little.  All  necessary  and  useful  advice  has  been 
written  over  and  over  again.  Bunker  shots  are  special 
shots,  and  the  more  a  golfer  knows  about  them  the 
better  is  he  equipped  to  save  strokes.  Treat  every 
bunker  with  respect,  but  fear  none. 

There  is  a  special  group  of  strokes  in  this  game 
to  which  every  professional  pays  a  good  deal  of 
attention,  but  few  of  them  are  often  successful  in 
execution.  Here  I  refer  to  the  intentional  slice  and 
the  intentional  pull,  or,  as  Vardon  called  them,  '  the 
master-strokes.'  Of  course  I  do  not  mean  (nor  does 
Vardon)  the  ordinary  sliced  or  pulled  shot  on  to  a 
green,  which  is  done  by  a  slight  alteration  in  the 
stance,  but  the  deliberate  attempt  to  circumvent 
some  formidable  hazard  and  reach  a  green  that  is,  say, 
round  the  corner. 

I  must  confess  that  the  only  man  I  have  ever  seen 
bring  off  this  shot  successfully  is  Vardon  himself. 
Twice  at  least  I  have  seen  him  judge  to  perfection  the 


MY  OWN  GAME  205 

correct  amount  of  pull  and  slice,  and  in  each  case  he 
saved  a  stroke.  At  the  time  I  felt  he  was  quite  right 
in  calling  it  a  '  master-stroke/ 

The  method  and  the  principle  of  the  shot  are,  I 
should  say,  generally  understood.    It  will  be  remem- 
bered what  has  been 
said    about    drawing    ™x  x    B 

the  line  of  flight  back         „  ^O^~ —  >  A 

from     the    ball    for   S  '  ~  -  -  -  _  p 

about  three  feet.    In  J  gg.^^  ^^  Qf  ^  Qf  ^ 

the      Case      Of       these  S...S.  Dotted  line  showing  approximate  move- 
ment of  club  head  before  and  after 

Special  Shots  the  club  striking  ball  for  the  slice. 

,        j    -  ,.  ,    P. ..P.  Dotted  line  showing  approximate  move- 

head  for  a  Slice  must  ment  of  club  head  before  and  after 

be    taken    back    OUt-  striking  ball  for  the  pull. 

side  that  line,  and  it  must  finish,  immediately  after 
the  ball  is  reached,  inside  that  line.  For  the  pull  the 
club  head  must  be  taken  back  well  inside  the  line, 
and  when  it  reaches  the  ball  it  must  be  travelling  on 
its  way  outside  it. 

The  stance  is  altered  and  the  ball  so  placed  as  to 
produce  the  required  result.  There  are  plenty  of 
photographs  in  the  big  books  that  give  the  exact 
positions,  and  I  believe  the  instruction  is  quite  sound. 
The  difficulty  occurs  in  making  the  shot.  There  is 
always  the  feeling,  '  is  it  worth  the  risk  ?  '  and  that 
is  the  reason  why  so  few  bring  it  off.  You  feel  quite 
confident  you  can  get  a  five,  but  to  get  a  four  you  have 
to  chance  taking  a  six,  and  I  must  confess  that  I 
should  never  take  the  risk  unless  things  were  in  a  very 
desperate  condition.  For  instance,  if  I  stood  dormy 
one  down  I  should  attempt  it,  but  if  I  stood  all  square 


206  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

and  one  to  go  I  should  certainly  not  take  the  risk, 
but  I  should  feel  quite  satisfied  if  my  opponent  did. 
It  may  be  gathered  from  this  that  I  hold  the  shot 
to  be  far  too  difficult  to  admit  of  being  attempted  in 
any  but  '  now  or  never  '  conditions. 


(d)  PUTTING 

Putting,  writes  Vardon,  is  a  '  game  within  a  game,' 
and  he  might  have  added  that  the  game  within  is 
greater  than  the  game  without.  He  also  says  that 
you  cannot  teach  a  man  to  putt,  which  I  hold  to  be 
perfectly  true.  What  you  can  do  is  to  tell  the  man 
plainly  why  it  is  he  cannot  putt,  and  that  is  very 
seldom  done.  There  is  one  point  I  might  mention  at 
the  start,  and  that  is,  that  a  large  number  of  golfers 
are  too  greedy  in  their  expectations.  Nowadays, 
when  many  of  the  greens  are  some  forty  yards  square, 
for  a  player  to  grumble  because  he  often  takes  three 
putts  is,  on  the  face  of  it,  rather  stupid. 

After  what  Vardon  has  written,  I  am  not  going  to 
be  guilty  of  suggesting  anything  that  might  be  con- 
sidered as  an  attempt  to  teach,  but  I  will  content 
myself  with  pointing  out  certain  things  which  are 
worth  considering.  First,  I  will  briefly  review  what 
others  have  written,  and  I  will  start  with  the  opinions 
of  my  friend  Vardon. 

I  cannot  resist  the  temptation  of  suggesting  that, 
when  he  next  writes  a  chapter  on  this  particular 
department  of  the  game,  he  should  not  entitle  it 
4  Simple  Putting.'  His  doing  so  suggests  the  story 


MY  OWN  GAME  207 

about  one  of  the  other  big  men  who,  on  a  certain 
occasion,  was  suffering  from  a  severe  attack  of 
socketing  his  mashie  shots  ;  at  the  end  of  the  round 
a  certain  nobleman  came  up  and  cheerfully  suggested 

that  what  he  should  do  was  to  read  ' on  how  to 

play  the  mashie. '  Vardon  seems  to  have  a  fixed  idea 
that  there  is  a  method  allotted  to  each  of  us  by  Nature. 
When  we  adopt  it,  unconsciously  or  not,  we  putt  well, 
and  when  we  deviate  from  it,  if  ever  so  little,  we  putt 
badly  :  that  is  his  secret  of  putting. 

Now  I  do  not  think  that  is  very  sound.  One  cannot 
say  that  it  is  wrong,  because  it  is  so  indefinite,  but 
I  think  the  idea  is  erroneous,  inasmuch  as  it  insists 
on  the  vital  importance  of  the  stance.  I  believe  a 
really  good  putter — Willie  Park,  for  instance,  and 
there  is  none  better — could  putt  with  his  feet  in  any 
position,  so  long  as  you  did  not  twist  his  body  until 
he  could  not  get  a  good  sight  of  the  line,  or  interfere 
with  the  freedom  of  his  arms.  Another,  and  a  very 
fine  putter  be  it  noted,  informs  us  that  the  secret 
of  putting  is  to  strike  the  ball  as  much  on  the  bottom 
as  possible,  in  order  to  impart  drag.  He  tells  us  not 
to  follow  through,  and  to  try  and  coax  the  ball  into 
the  hole. 

Another  authority  tells  us  the  real  way  to  putt  is 
to  strike  the  ball  on  the  top  to  give  it  running  spin, 
and  we  are  to  be  sure  and  follow  through. 

Others  again  advocate  hitting  the  ball  off  the  nose 
of  the  putter ;  some  swear  the  heel  is  the  best ;  and 
some  actually  suggest  the  centre  of  the  putter  as  the 
correct  place.  There  are  then  plenty  of  methods  to 


208  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

try,  and  plenty  of  good  putters  who  have  adopted 
one  or  other  of  them. 

The  value  of  undercutting  the  ball  or  of  imparting 
top  spin  to  it  depends,  in  my  opinion,  entirely  on  the 
condition  of  the  green  and  the  texture  of  the  grass. 

One  idea  I  do  think  wrong,  and  that  is  for  the  man 
who  drags  his  putt  to  aim  at  coaxing  the  ball  into  the 
hole  ;  his  only  chance  is  to  putt  boldly  for  the  back  of 
the  hole.  It  is  the  man  who  putts  with  top  spin  who 
should  be  afraid  of  getting  past. 

My  ordinary  way  of  putting  is  to  hit  the  ball  cleanly 
and  to  follow  through.  I  always  take  a  line  as  close 
to  the  ball  as  possible,  and  I  putt  almost  entirely 
with  the  right  hand.  My  stance  is  formed  with  the 
ball  exactly  opposite  my  left  heel,  and  I  stand  fairly 
upright.  If  the  green  is  very  fast  and  slippery  I  take 
a  putting-cleek.  This  helps  to  check  the  ball,  and  it 
also  gives  one  a  chance  of  hitting  firmly  without  fear 
of  running  past  the  hole. 

For  the  long  putts,  which  you  wish  to  get  dead, 
there  is  no  help  any  one  can  give.  The  only  advice 
is  that  you  must  practise.  Always  try  to  acquire  the 
habit  of  quickly  observing  the  condition  of  the  green, 
and  then  nothing  but  practice  will  teach  you  the 
'  touch  '  that  is  necessary  for  you  to  get  the  ball 
dead.  There  is  no  secret  way  of  hitting  the  ball ;  some 
days  you  will  do  it,  and  some  days  you  will  not ;  but 
the  more  you  practise,  the  more  familiar  with  the 
stroke  you  will  become,  and  the  more  often  will  you 
discover  the  correct  strength. 

And  for  the  short  putts.    Pay  attention  to  what  is 


PUTTING :  STANCE  AND  GRIP 


[To  face  p.  208 


IM-ITIN«;:  IIOUNC;  orr 


[To  face  p.  209 


MY  OWN  GAME  209 

described  as  a  good  style — that  is  to  say,  note  carefully 
all  the  advice  about  '  keeping  the  body  still/  *  taking 
the  line/  '  see  that  the  putter  is  taken  back  smoothly 
and  that  it  is  brought  back  truly  on  the  line  to  the 
hole  ' — for  it  is  obvious  that  a  good  style  is  better 
than  a  bad  one.  This  is  all  that  can  be  insisted  upon  ; 
after  that  it  is  simply  a  question  of  whether  you  are 
able  to  hit  the  ball  as  you  intend.  There  are  plenty 
of  people  who  think  that  a  good  style  means  success 
— that  is  pure  nonsense. 

It  is  no  good  disguising  the  fact  that  there  are 
hundreds,  nay,  thousands,  of  people  who  know  all 
about  style  and  its  value,  but  who  cannot  hole  a 
putt  of  four  feet  at  a  critical  moment  to  save  their 
lives.  What  happens  is  that  their  style  goes  all  to 
pieces.  I  have  very  little  patience  with  the  elaborate 
system  of  pretence  one  meets  on  the  putting-green : 
it  would  be  far  better  to  tell  the  truth.  You  watch 
the  four-foot  putt  stop  on  the  lip  of  the  hole,  and 
then  you  have  to  listen  to  an  exclamation  that  it  is 
4  hard  luck/  that  something  or  other  stopped  it  on 
its  way,  and  many  other  excuses — when  all  the  time 
you  could  see  quite  plainly  that  the  ball  was  not  hit 
hard  enough.  Or,  again,  when  the  eight  to  ten  foot 
putt  goes  flying  past  the  hole,  and  you  are  informed 
that  the  striker  '  thought  the  green  much  slower/ 
you  know  well  enough  that  at  the  last  moment,  for 
some  unaccountable  reason,  he  hit  the  ball  harder 
than  he  intended — you  have  done  all  this  yourself. 

Perhaps  the  most  glaring  example  of  mendacity 
occurs  when  the  eighteen-inch  to  two -footer  is  missed, 

o 


210  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

and  you  are  told  that  the  mistake  was  due  to  pure 
carelessness,  or  not  taking  sufficient  pains,  when 
nothing  else  was  responsible  but  a  sudden  surge  of 
mental  fright  in  the  shape  of  a  small  voice  reminding 
the  player  that  he  had  missed  many  such  a  putt 
before. 

In  putting,  what  I  want  to  discover  is  how  to  make 
sure  of  hitting  the  ball  as  you  know  it  should  be  hit 
on  all  occasions,  or,  in  other  words,  how  to  stop  those 
sudden  attacks  of  flinching  that  paralyse  the  very 
best  of  styles,  and  upset  the  very  best  of  players. 


CHAPTER  III 
CLUBS— THEIR  SELECTION  AND  PURCHASE 

IT  goes  without  saying  that  something  must  be 
written  about  the  implements  of  the  game — the 
selection  and  purchase  of  clubs,  etc.,  and  although 
the  professional's  point  of  view  may  be  justly  con- 
sidered as  flavoured  by  interest,  it  will  do  no  harm  if 
his  opinion  be  recorded  of  other  aspects  of  the  question. 
I  've  heard  it  said, '  Show  me  a  man's  bag  of  clubs  and 
I  will  tell  you  the  sort  of  golfer  he  is,'  and  it  is  doubt- 
less a  very  good  test,  but  there  are  plenty  of  exceptions. 
I  remember  a  celebrated  match  at  Westward  Ho, 
some  years  ago,  between  a  member  of  the  Royal 
North  Devon,  an  international  player,  and  a  member 
of  the  Artisan  Club.  The  latter  turned  up  to  play  with 
an  old  brassie,  a  cleek,  and  an  iron  of  sorts,  and  he 
won,  and  heaps  of  people  to  my  mind  drew  a  fatally 
wrong  conclusion  from  the  result.  They  argued  that 
the  clubs  didn't  matter,  and  it 's  quite  common  to 
hear  the  same  argument  to-day.  '  The  best  round 
I  ever  played  was  one  day  when  I  went  out  with 
four  old  clubs/  is  a  sample  ;  but  the  secret  of  the 
riddle  is  surely  to  be  looked  for  in  the  man's  attitude 
towards  the  clubs,  and  not  in  the  clubs  themselves. 

You  can  accept  it  as  a  fact — the  clubs  do  matter. 

211 


212  PROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

In  the  match  cited  above  I  could  only  see  the  case  of  a 
*  golfer  born,'  but  with  a  serious  laxity  of  judgment 
that  led  him  to  treat  the  game  with  an  indignity 
bound  in  the  long  run  to  react  against  himself,  and 
therein  lies  the  reason  why,  fine  golfer  as  he  is, 
much  to  the  disappointment  of  many  he  has  never 
4  arrived/ 

But  this  sort  of  attitude  is  an  extreme  one,  and 
need  not  be  treated  very  seriously.  I  might  mention 
in  passing  the  other  extreme,  that  of  the  man  who 
insists  on  carrying  some  thirteen  to  sixteen  clubs  for 
a  round,  mostly  irons  of  all  sorts  of  conceivable 
patterns — he  breeds  trouble  of  another  sort.  His 
position  is,  'I  would  rather  have  a  club  with  me  in 
case  I  want  it  than  leave  it  in  the  locker '  (the  caddie 
question  being  naturally  allowed  to  drop  out).  His 
danger  lies  in  the  insidious  attack  made  on  his 
capacity  for  decision,  by  having  several  clubs  equal 
to  the  same  work.  I  saw  a  very  good  example  of  that 
one  year  in  the  'Varsity  match.  The  top  couple  were 
having  a  tremendous  match — at  the  last  hole  the 
player  in  question  was  dormy ;  for  his  second  shot  he 
had  what  appeared  to  me  to  be  a  straightforward 
cleek  shot  to  the  hole,  but  he  stood  looking  at  the  ball, 
and  one  after  the  other  pulled  out  his  driving -mashie, 
cleek,  and  short  spoon.  Hesitation  was  so  marked 
that  most  of  the  small  ring  of  spectators  could  not 
prevent  a  smile.  In  the  end  he  half  hit  the  shot,  and 
if  his  opponent  hadn't  been  also  attacked  by  some 
enemy,  the  match  would  have  been  halved.  As  it 
was,  the  hole  was  halved  in  a  none  too  creditable  six. 


CLUBS— SELECTION  AND  PURCHASE      213 

We  need  not  waste  much  time  in  considering  the 
man  who  fusses  about  his  clubs  so  much  that  he  is 
universally  voted  a  nuisance,  but  there  are  such. 
One  I  know,  and  he  is  known  to  quite  a  number  of 
the  profession  as  '  Mephistopheles,'  partly  because  he 
somewhat  resembles  the  artistic  representation  of 
the  prince,  and  partly  because  of  his  diabolical 
ingenuity  in  finding  causes  for  grumbling.  Every 
person  he  plays  with  '  has  a  better  set  of  clubs  than 
his  own.'  He  never  has  a  grip  put  on  but  what 
it 's  '  too  thick  under  the  third  finger/  or  '  too  thin 
under  the  right  thumb  ' ;  if  you  make  him  a  driver  the 
chances  are  you  will  have  to  unmake  it  within  a 
week.  He  has  now  got  it  into  his  head  that  what  he 
wants  is  '  a  split  hickory  shaft,'  and  I  've  heard  of 
him  lately  peevishly  bemoaning  his  lot  because  he 
cannot  get  one,  not  that  he  would  recognise  it  if  he 
could. 

My  excuse  for  mentioning  this  case  is  that,  capable 
and  keen  player  as  this  gentleman  undoubtedly  is, 
there  is  no  doubt  whatever  in  my  mind  that  it 's 
nothing  but  his  mental  attitude  towards  his  clubs 
which  accounts  for  his  failure  to  get  his  handicap  lower. 

I  hope  it  will  be  understood,  from  what  has  been 
said  so  far,  that  I  am  all  in  favour  of  taking  a  keen 
interest  in  one's  own  set  of  clubs.  I  confess  that  I 
like  to  hear  a  young  player  say  that  he  Js  '  got  the 
best  iron  in  the  world.'  Not  that  I  'm  pleased  with 
the  truth  of  the  statement,  but  I  expect  to  see  him, 
when  the  club  comes  to  his  hand,  play  the  shot  effec- 
tively— and  that 's  what  generally  happens. 


214  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

As  to  the  number  of  clubs  necessary,  it  would  be 
very  unwise  to  lay  down  a  hard-and-fast  rule  ;  the 
advice  given  by  the  big  men  is  sound  enough.  Have 
a  look  at  their  sets  in  Golf  and  Golfers .  My  own  whim 
leads  me  to  carry,  besides  the  ordinary  set,  two 
extras — a  straight-faced  iron  with  upright  lie,  mainly 
for  shots  against  a  strong  wind,  and  a  putting-cleek. 
My  ordinary  putter  is  of  the  swan-neck  type,  and  I 
rely  on  it  for  most  of  the  work ;  but  when  I  find  the 
greens  unusually  keen  and  slippy,  the  extra  loft  on 
the  putting-cleek  is  a  great  help  in  checking  the  ball. 
That  brings  the  number  of  my  pack  to  eleven — driver, 
brassie,  spoon,  cleek,  straight-faced  iron,  iron,  medium 
iron,  mashie,  niblick,  putter,  and  putting  cleek. 

Of  course,  if  the  event  is  important,  I  may  include 
an  extra  driver,  but  things  are  not  going  well  if  I 
have  to  use  it,  and  it  only  goes  into  the  bag  '  in  case 
of  accidents.' 

And  now  for  a  word  on  the  all-important  point  of 
what  club  actually  suits.  First,  the  weight  and  lie 
of  the  club  are  very  important  points,  and  must 
depend  on  the  style  of  play  and  the  player.  The  depth 
of  face  both  in  drivers  and  irons  is  also  bound  up  with 
the  style  of  the  player,  but  a  further  consideration  is 
the  kind  of  course  you  play  on.  A  deep-faced  club 
is  more  useful  where  the  texture  of  the  grass  keeps  the 
ball  well  up  off  the  ground,  and  a  shallow  face  where 
the  grass  is  so  fine  that  the  ball  '  sits  very  tight/ 

There  is  nothing  very  much  to  be  said  for  the 
*  patent  clubs  ' — without  heels,  or  with  many  heels. 
The  usual  pattern  gives  plenty  of  hitting  face,  and  if 


CLUBS— SELECTION  AND  PURCHASE      215 

you  have  developed  the  habit  of  hitting  the  ball  off 
the  socket,  I  do  not  think  it  is  going  to  help  your 
game  simply  to  use  a  club  where  the  socket  has  been 
cunningly  put  out  of  the  way.  You  had  far  better 
understand  the  cause  of  the  trouble,  and  put  it  right. 
And  when  you  are  face  to  face  with  half  a  dozen  clubs 
more  or  less  alike,  buy  the  one  you  fancy,  never  mind 
about  anybody  else.  I  'm  convinced  fancy  must  be 
allowed  to  play  a  very  important  part,  presuming  that 
it  is  generally  the  outcome  of  one's  own  particular 
measurements  and  power,  and  it  comes  therefore  under 
the  heading  of  things  to  be  taken  seriously.  Of  course 
to  those  who  would  ask,  How  do  I  know  what  club 
suits  my  style  ?  I  have  but  one  piece  of  advice  to 
give.  Go  to  your  local  professional — certainly  don't 
go  to  a  friend  who  happens  to  be  a  short  handicap 
player — and  ask  him  to  buy  for  you.  The  friend  is 
nearly  always  an  enemy  in  disguise.  The  test  is 
simple,  can  you  trust  your  friend  to  buy  the  club 
that  he  couldn't  play  with  himself  ?  Mind  you,  it 's 
very  unlikely  that  the  same  club  will  suit  you  both  ; 
of  course,  you  will  try  and  make  it  do,  but  my  point 
is  you  can  do  better  with  professional  advice.  My 
own  experience  is  that  very  seldom  does  the  crack 
player  select  any  other  club  than  the  one  he  would 
purchase  for  himself,  and  the  seller  finds  himself  in 
a  position  where  he  must  be  patient  and  acquiesce. 

It  is  an  all  too  common  sight  to  find  keen  golfers 
assiduously  practising  with  a  club  that  is  built  for  an 
entirely  different  style  from  their  own.  Think  of 
the  years  some  people  spend  before  they  have 


216  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

definitely  settled  the  style  of  club  to  play  with ;  and 
why  ?  There  should  be  no  difficulty  about  it ;  but 
the  importance  of  being  properly  fitted  with  your 
clubs  cannot  be  emphasised  too  much.  I  feel  I  must 
make  my  reasons  for  the  advice  given  above  quite 
clear.  First,  the  professional,  however  dull  you  may 
think  him,  is  bound  to  know  something  about  the 
points  of  a  club.  You  cannot  spend  years  of  your 
life  fitting  shafts  to  heads,  and  handling  hundreds 
of  clubs,  without  acquiring  knowledge,  and  the 
practical  knowledge  that  counts.  You  may  think 
this  knowledge  is  also  common  to  many  of  the  crack 
amateurs,  and  perhaps  it  is,  but  it  is  astonishing  how 
many  of  them  are  hopelessly  at  sea  in  judging  a 
club.  I  had  an  instance  of  this  some  time  back.  I 
happened  to  be  in  a  brother  professional's  shop  soon 
after  a  very  well-known  golfer  had  paid  a  visit.  My 
friend  drew  my  attention  to  a  nice-looking  iron  club, 
and  told  me  what  had  happened  :  the  head  of  the 
club  was  badly  '  lying  off,'  and  the  player  had  quite 
failed  to  realise  it,  and  took  some  time  to  grasp  what 
was  meant.  Now  I  warrant  there  are  not  half  a 
dozen  professionals  in  England  that  would  not  have 
spotted  it  in  a  few  seconds.  Again,  the  professional 
can,  if  he  has  had  any  apprenticeship  in  coaching  at 
all,  tell  you  the  style  and  stamp  of  club  best  suited  to 
your  methods  of  play,  if  you  give  him  a  chance.  So 
I  hold  that  from  any  point  of  view,  if  you  want  advice, 
the  professional  is  the  safest  man  to  go  to,  and  it 
will  mean  the  soundest  economy  in  the  long  run. 
Perhaps  I  ought  to  say  a  word  about  an  idea  that 


CLUBS— SELECTION  AND  PURCHASE      217 

sometimes  crops  up,  that  the  professional  is  likely  to 
sell  you  rubbish.  That  idea  is  really  too  stupid. 
To  say  nothing  about  the  man's  self-respect,  it  is  so 
ridiculous  from  a  business  point  of  view,  so  certain 
not  to  pay  ;  and  the  modern  professional  is  neither 
ignorant  of  advertisements  nor  of  the  value  of 
customers. 

And  here  may  I  crave  the  reader's  pardon  if  I 
introduce,  for  a  brief  space,  what  is  not  strictly  part 
of  the  work  expected  of  me.  My  excuse  for  doing  so 
is  that  it  affects  all  professionals  and  is  but  vaguely 
understood  by  their  masters.  I  am  thinking  of  the 
growing  custom  of  golfers  to  buy  what  they  need 
from  the  big  stores,  and  from  the  shops  in  the  town 
which  run  golf  requisites  as  a  side  line.  The  condition 
of  the  professionals'  trade  has  been  altered  very  much 
of  late  years  ;  the  steady  improvement  in  machinery, 
and  the  advent  of  the  rubber-cored  ball,  has  affected 
the  opportunity  for  business  tremendously.  A  few 
years  ago,  repairs  were  an  item  that  meant  something 
to  the  professional,  and  wooden  clubs  did  not  stand 
the  punishment  from  the  '  gutty  '  ball  for  any  length 
of  time.  Nowadays,  everybody  knows  that  repairs 
hardly  count,  and  that  a  driver  with  ordinary  usage 
will  last  almost  a  lifetime.  I  know  well  enough 
that  these  conditions  are  in  the  natural  order  of 
things,  but  I  would  appeal  to  all  members  of  the 
golfing  public  that  what  trade  there  is  should  be  given 
to  the  local  professional. 

Of  course  I  shall  be  told  that  the  golf  professional 
makes  a  pretty  good  thing  of  it,  and  we  all  know 


218  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

that,  in  the  minds  of  many,  fabulous  sums  are  made 
by  the  ordinary  professional ;  but  in  reality  the 
whole  reward  is  outrageously  exaggerated.  That 
there  are  plums  in  the  profession  every  one  admits, 
and  there  are  still  plenty  of  desirable  posts,  and 
those  that  get  them  know  themselves  lucky  and  are 
for  the  most  part  grateful,  but  I  do  think  the  golfing 
public  have  got  the  whole  perspective  wrong.  What 
they  see  is  only  the  foreground  of  the  picture,  but 
there  are  distances  beyond.  If  the  truth  must  be 
told,  the  condition  of  the  rank  and  file  is  fast  becoming 
a  very  serious  problem.  All  those  who  have  had 
anything  to  do  with  the  Professional  Golfers' 
Association  are  painfully  aware  of  it.  Under  modern 
commercial  methods  the  golf  professional  is  fast  being 
squeezed  out — '  snowed  under,'  as  one  very  tersely 
put  it,  and  through  no  fault  of  his  own.  Surely  it 
will  be  a  very  great  pity,  and  have  far-reaching  conse- 
quences for  the  game,  when  the  profession  is  reduced 
to  that  state  that  it  fails  to  attract  the  keen  working 
man  !  Of  course  the  golf  professional  can  be  done 
without,  so  we  are  told,  but  is  it  desirable  ? 

Here  is  a  case  that  came  to  my  notice  recently. 
A  new  club,  inland,  advertised  for  a  professional  and 
selected  an  apprentice,  a  young  keen  player,  from  a 
seaside  course.  The  announcement  of  the  appointment 
was  made  with  a  flourish  of  trumpets  in  the  local  papers : 

*  Mr. had  played  round  with  the  committee  and 

had  given  every  satisfaction,  and  was  appointed,  etc. 
etc.'  Well,  this  young  fellow  had  been  employed  a 
month  at  a  purely  nominal  fee,  and  had  so  far  only 


CLUBS— SELECTION  AND  PURCHASE      219 

been  asked  to  play  one  round  on  the  course.  He 
certainly  had  given  a  few  lessons,  but  not  many,  and 
the  clubs  and  balls  sold  counted  for  little.  What 
must  the  point  of  view  of  this  young  golfer  be  ?  You 
can  see  quite  easily  what  has  happened.  The  com- 
mittee had  made  the  appointment,  and  there  they 
finished.  The  members,  if  they  thought  twice  about 
it,  surmised  that  all  the  other  members  were  engaging 
the  professional  all  day  long,  and  supporting  his 
shop  in  the  interval ;  and  it  was  nobody's  particular 
business.  The  result  is  that  the  young  fellow  would 
have  done  far  better  for  himself  as  a  road  mender. 

I  do  hope  my  readers  will  not  consider  this  an 
uncalled-for  wail.  It  is  a  serious  problem  in  the  minds 
of  those  who  have  the  interest  of  the  profession  at 
heart,  and  I  believe  a  lot  can  be  done  if  the  needful 
purchases  are  given  to  the  club  professional.  After 
all,  the  game  of  golf  to  most  members  is  a  sport,  not 
to  be  associated  with  the  business  of  life,  and  besides, 
if  I  had  space,  it  would  be  quite  easy  to  prove  that 
buying  clubs  or  balls  at  the  great  emporiums  is 
thoroughly  bad  economics.  Their  system  is  a  sprat 
to  catch  a  mackerel,  and  you  don't  always  get  the 
sprat. 


CHAPTER  IV 
TEMPERAMENT  AND  OTHER  MATTERS 

WHEN  the  last  word  has  been  written  about  the  right 
and  the  wrong  club  to  play  with,  and  the  wisest  way 
to  select  them,  and  when  the  pupil  has  been  carefully 
and  well  informed  as  to  the  best  and  most  effective 
way  of  hitting  the  ball,  and  in  practice  has  become 
the  equal  of  the  master,  there  still  remains  the  most 
terrifying  problem  of  all — the  temperament  of  the 
man  for  the  game,  to  use  a  vague  expression  that 
will  be  more  or  less  understood,  but  which  at  the  most 
is  only  a  label  for  a  group  of  activities  far  beyond  my 
power  to  analyse. 

The  equipment  of  the  man  to  become  the  golfer 
seems  to  me  to  have  been  greatly  neglected  by  the 
writers  on  the  game,  certainly  as  a  subject  for 
analytical  study,  and  surely  not  because  it  is  un- 
important, or  because  it  is  generally  understood. 
Occasionally  a  writer  refers  to  it,  but  incidentally  to 
something  he  considers  more  essential,  and  there  are 
rare  chapters  to  be  found  here  and  there  on  training, 
etc.,  but  to  my  mind  it  has  not  received  anything  like 
the  attention  that  it  deserves.  That  the  mechanical 
skill  in  playing  the  shots  can  be  acquired  needs  no 
proof :  the  strikingly  high  standard  reached  by  the 

120 


TEMPERAMENT  AND  OTHER  MATTERS  221 

rank  and  file  of  the  professionals  has  been  noted  time 
and  again,  and  is  admitted  by  every  one,  and  I  should 
go  so  far  as  to  say  that  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  men 
who  take  up  golf  before  the  age  of  thirty  would 
certainly  be  given  a  certificate  of  *  scratch  possible ' 
by  any  physiologist.  That  they  do  not  become 
scratch  players,  or  anything  approaching  it,  is  certain, 
and  it  is  just  as  certain  that  the  man  beats  himself. 

Every  one  has  had  experience  of  the  type  of  man 
who,  when  he  finds  himself  losing  holes,  invariably 
commences  complaining  that  he  is  far  from  well — 
it  is  liver  or  indigestion  or  rheumatism  or  some  such 
ailment.  One  such  I  well  remember :  if  he  were 
beaten  he  would  come  back  and  carefully  explain  to 
all  who  would  listen  why  it  was — thus  discounting  any 
credit  due  to  the  game  of  the  man  who  had  just  beaten 
him. 

At  last  one  of  his  victims  turned  the  tables,  in  this 
way :  he  laid  himself  out  from  the  start  of  the  round 
systematically  to  pretend  that  the  man  was  bad — 
4  looked  bad,'  in  fact  *  ought  not  to  be  playing.' 
Needless  to  say  he  won,  and  he  might  have  gone  on 
collecting  half-crowns  to  this  day,  if  he  had  not  been 
so  elated  with  his  success  that  he  gave  the  joke  away. 

Only  the  other  day  I  was  playing  a  round  with  a 
visitor,  who  asked  me  if  I  had  seen  so-and-so  play 
lately,  mentioning  one  of  our  well-known  professionals, 
and  added  '  what  a  fine  driver  he  has  become/  and  then 
went  on  to  say  how  he  had  '  pulled  his  leg/  This  is 
his  story.  He  said, c  I  was  playing  with  him  last  week 
and  noticed  that  the  first  five  or  six  holes  he  was 


222  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

getting  a  tremendous  length  from  the  tee,  and  I  said 
to  him  by  way  of  a  joke,  "  You  don't  seem  to  be 
driving  quite  so  far  as  you  used  ;  how  is  it  ?  "  "  Don't 
you  think  so,  sir  ?  "  he  answered,  "  well,  I  thought  I 
was  getting  a  bit  further  if  anything  "  ;  and  from 
that  point  he  pressed  so  abominably  that  he  never 
got  another  drive  clean.'  Such  tactics  cannot  be 
recommended,  for  it  must  be  admitted  that  they  do 
not  represent  the  best  sportsmanship,  but  the  stories  are 
true,  and  at  least  illustrate  what  a  very  slight  mental 
disturbance  will  upset  even  the  most  skilful  golfers. 

I  could  wish  this  obvious  fact  were  more  clearly 
understood.  Pages  and  pages  of  paper  are  everlast- 
ingly being  filled  with  the  merest  nonsense  about 
why  the  shot  is  missed — how  it  should  have  been 
played,  temporary  loss  of  form,  etc.  etc. — and  the 
real  reason  why  is  carefully  disguised  from  the 
player,  who  is  seldom  made  to  face  the  real  truth  of 
the  matter.  Only  yesterday  I  found  an  old  friend  of 
mine  explaining  in  one  of  the  morning  papers  c  that 

Mr. was  such  a  fine  putter  because  he  struck  the 

ball  in  such  and  such  a  way.'  Rubbish,  my  friend ! 
There  are  hundreds  of  us  who  have  quite  a  sound  style 
in  putting,  and  know  all  about  '  top  spin  '  and  *  drag  ' 
and  the  rest  of  it,  and  who  putt  abominably  just  when 
we  are  most  anxious  to  putt  well. 

I  must  ask  pardon  for  deserting  the  subject  for  a 
moment,  but  I  cannot  resist  presenting  this  idea  to 
the  large  group  of  golfers,  links  architects  and  others, 
who  make  themselves  responsible  for  altering  and 
bunkering  the  course.  The  one  and  only  idea  prevalent 


TEMPERAMENT  AND^OTHER  MATTERS    223 

amongst  them  seems  to  be  that  of  expanding  the  old 
conventional  system  of  making  frontal  attacks  on  the 
game ;  the  more  daring  spirits  amongst  them  are 
certainly  creeping  very  much  closer  to  the  hole,  and 
others  have  hopes  of  earning  a  reputation  by  placing 
bunkers  that  are  manifestly  unfair ;  but,  speaking 
generally,  the  result  of  their  efforts  is,  that  a  good  half 
of  the  bunkers  are  more  of  a  help  than  a  hindrance. 

Here  is  an  example.  I  hold,  and  I  think  the 
majority  of  the  experts  at  the  game  will  agree  with 
me,  that  the  most  difficult  four  to  get  is  at  a  two-shot 
hole,  just  a  drive  and  an  iron,  on  a  flat  piece  of  ground, 
without  a  single  bunker  at  all.  And  why  ?  Simply 
because  it  attacks  the  man.  There  is  no  help  as  to 
distance,  no  help  as  to  the  kind  of  shot  best  suited. 
But  then  along  comes  the  architect,  and  plants  a 
bunker  for  a  pull,  and  another  for  the  slice — and  the 
problem  of  distance  is  gone.  He  next  (if  he  is  modern 
and  up-to-date)  practically  surrounds  the  green  with 
bunkers,  and  the  kind  of  shot  to  be  played  is  decided 
for  you. 

However,  to  get  back  to  what  I  wish  to  say  about 
temperament.  My  experience  as  a  professional  at 
Oxford  afforded  me  ample  opportunity  of  realising 
the  importance  of  having,  or  not  having,  the  right 
kind  of  temperament.  At  the  University  tempera- 
ment looms  very  large,  and  the  order  of  things  lends 
itself  to  it.  The  importance  of  gaining  a  '  Blue,' 
the  keen  and  desperate  struggle  of  those  who  fancy 
they  have  a  chance,  the  short  time  possible  for  trials, 
and  the  attention  given  to  the  match  itself  by  the 


224  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

golfing  public,  all  tend  to  produce  a  degree  of  tension 
which  is  scarcely  realised  outside  the  universities.  The 
captain  is  the  autocrat,  and  has  the  selection  in  his 
hands,  and  it  is  no  easy  task.  It  is  not  a  question 
of  selecting  from  a  few,  there  are  always  dozens  of 
likely  men,  and  a  regular  bunch  of  players  who>  if 
their  handicaps  register  their  worth,  are  all  of  the 
same  rank ;  so  that  in  the  end  it  becomes  a  question 
of  who  has  the  best  temperament,  and  that  is  where 
the  trouble  begins. 

I  could  fill  many  pages  with  curious  and  startling 
examples.  Of  course,  the  man  who  is  clearly 
lacking  gets  found  out  in  the  first  trial  or  so,  and 
gives  little  trouble,  except  that  he  invariably  becomes 
a  somewhat  loquacious  critic  ;  but  it  is  the  type  that 
can  stand  the  strain  of  the  minor  events  that  upsets 
calculations. 

Many  captains  stood  by  the  idea  that  the  man  who 
was  accustomed  to  the  importance  of  other  contests, 
say,  cricket  or  racquets,  would  at  least  be  less  likely 
to  break,  but  experience  has  failed  conspicuously  to 
make  this  evident ;  it  recalls  the  old  story  that  they 
might  'hit  the  ball  if  it  was  bowled  to  them.'  I 
remember  a  few  years  ago  Cambridge  had  a  golfer, 
the  equal  in  skill  of  any  of  his  contemporaries.  He 
accomplished  very  creditable  things  in  the  preliminary 
trials,  but  when  it  came  to  the  match,  he  simply 
played  like  an  eighteen  handicap  man,  and  cost  his 
side  a  pocketful  of  holes.  Apparently  this  result 
was  not  explained  correctly  ;  for  they  played  him 
again  the  next  year,  when  he  did  the  very  same  thing. 


TEMPERAMENT  AND  OTHER  MATTERS     225 

Oxford  had  many  examples  too,  some  of  them  really 
too  painful  to  recall.  All  that  can  be  said  is  that  the 
importance  of  the  occasion  becomes  an  obsession, 
something  goes  wrong,  and  the  captain  is  blamed  for 
playing  men  who  have  not  got  the  temperament. 
How  on  earth  he  is  to  know  their  breaking-point,  I 
cannot  imagine,  for  there  seems  to  be  no  outward 
and  visible  sign  of  lack  of  the  inward  grace. 

And  what  is  true  of  the  amateur  is  equally  true  of 
the  professional.  Of  course,  in  the  ordinary  round 
there  is  not  much  chance  of  discovering  how  one 
stands,  there  is  little  to  excite  or  test  one ;  but  in 
competitions  and  tournaments  the  strain  is  inevitable, 
and  it  must  be  remembered  that  these  events  are  the 
central  points  of  a  keen  professional's  existence.  He 
must  gain  his  laurels  then  or  not  at  all.  If  he  would 
become  one  of  those  who  count,  he  cannot  ignore  the 
big  events,  because  it  means  being  himself  ignored. 
And  it  is  known  to  all  of  us  that  the  ranks  of  the 
profession  are  full  of  expert  golfers — skilful  enough 
to  break  the  record  of  any  course — who,  when  faced 
with  the  necessity  of  carrying  a  card  and  a  pencil, 
become  for  the  time  being  temporarily  paralysed. 
A  good  story  that  will  illustrate  this  is  of  an  event 
that  happened  at  a  recent  championship.  Two 
rounds  had  been  completed,  and  on  the  evening 
previous  to  the  final  day  some  half-dozen  of  the 
professionals  were  discussing  the  results  and  the 
chances.  The  man  who  ultimately  won  was  amongst 
them,  but  stood  ninth  or  tenth  on  the  list.  One  of 
them  started  reading  the  list  aloud,  and  the  big  man 

p 


226  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

interjected  after  each  name  his  opinion.  '  You  can 
cross  him  out,'  or  '  you  must  leave  him  in,'  etc.  etc., 
and  his  verdict  was  so  remarkably  correct,  that  the 
story  got  a  vogue  at  once. 

And  yet  these  very  men,  at  least  some  of  them, 
have  grown  grey  and  old,  and  have  never  been  able 
to  get  used  to  the  limelight  of  the  big  events.  What 
it  is  that  is  lacking  in  their  composition  (or  is  there 
in  too  large  a  quantity)  is  beyond  the  comprehension 
of  most  people — to  call  it  nerves  is  only  to  provide 
a  label,  and  it  does  not  help. 

And  how  far  it  is  possible  to  train  oneself  in  this 
respect,  or  to  improve  one's  equipment,  is,  to  me  at 
any  rate,  vague  and  uncertain,  and  it  is  here  I  ask 
for  help  from  the  learned. 

But  there  are  points  that  present  no  uncertainty, 
and  on  which  I  offer  an  opinion  and  advice.  I  do 
not  think  it  possible  for  the  very  diffident  man  to  win 
a  big  event,  or  the  man  who  is  intensely  self-conscious  ; 
the  former  lacks  the  right  kind  of  courage,  and  the 
latter  will  of  a  surety  beat  himself ;  and  if  any  one 
knows  himself  for  such  he  is  well  advised  to  shun 
the  big  events,  and  save  his  energy  for  other  and 
perhaps  more  useful  channels. 

The  kind  of  courage  needed  is  very  difficult  to  deter- 
mine. Lord  Jim  was  magnificently  courageous,  as  a 
man,  but  he  would  never  have  won  a  golf  champion- 
ship. Nor  is  it  the  stamp  of  courage  that  is  given 
to  bullying  and  much  challenging  and  hard  swearing, 
if  it  is  correct  even  to  suppose  that  such  courage 
is  likely  to  succeed.  Certainly  a  most  important 


TEMPERAMENT  AND  OTHER  MATTERS     227 

and  indispensable  factor  in  the  successful  golfer  is 
control — control,  in  a  sense  which  I  will  endeavour  to 
explain — and  this  at  any  rate  it  is  within  the  power 
of  most  to  develop  ;  and  yet  how  many  practise  it  ? 
To  half  the  golfers  I  would  say,  '  It  is  not  practice 
with  the  club  you  need,  but  practice  with  the  man ; 
it  is  not  skill  you  lack,  but  control/  And  in  this 
connection  I  wish  to  strike  a  note  of  warning,  in  the 
hope  that  it  will  do  some  good,  but  I  am  glad  to 
say  that  it  only  relates  to  a  small  section  of  the 
brethren,  and  that  the  guilty  ones  are  but  a  few. 
The  first  point  is,  that  they  allow  themselves  to  drift 
into  a  stupid  childish  state  when  their  manners  and 
temper  get  out  of  hand,  doubtless  because  they  have 
been  led  on  and  made  a  fuss  of,  but  it  is  none  the 
less  deplorable.  One  sees  only  too  frequently,  when 
a  shot  is  missed,  the  club  flying  after  the  ball.  One 
does  not  want  to  make  much  of  it,  but  in  anybody  it 
is  ridiculous,  and  in  a  professional  simply  unpardon- 
able. A  much  worse  case  is  the  constant  use  of 
torrents  of  bad  language,  and  I  have  in  mind  one  or 
two  offenders,  who  by  their  skill  are  fast  being 
considered  amongst  the  showmen  of  the  game.  This 
cannot  be  dismissed  as  a  puritanical  attitude,  because 
most  of  us  would  plead  guilty  to  a  certain  extent, 
but  there  are  limits,  and  these  men  seem  bent  on 
breaking  records  ;  their  general  make-up  towards  the 
game  and  its  friends  leaves  very  much  to  be  desired. 
They  assume  a  silly,  swaggering,  devil-may-care  sort 
of  role,  that  in  itself  might  be  passed  over  as  of  little 
account,  but  for  the  fact  that  it  is  accompanied  by 


228  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

such  foul  language.  Of  course,  I  feel  that  amongst 
those  friends  of  the  game  who  count,  this  sort  of  thing 
is  valued  correctly,  and  explained  as  pure  vulgarity, 
but  it  is  nevertheless  a  danger. 

I  know  what  a  good  many  of  the  best  and  most 
respected  members  of  the  profession  think  of  it ; 
they  are  disgusted  and  deplore  it.  But  that,  to  my 
mind,  is  not  sufficient.  The  offenders  must  be  clearly 
given  to  understand  that  their  behaviour  is  a  serious 
menace  to  the  prosperity  of  the  profession,  and 
pressure  must  be  brought  to  bear  to  make  them 
mend  their  manners.  It  behoves  every  one  to  see 
that  the  tone  of  the  brotherhood  is  not  permanently 
lowered  by  a  few  impossible  people. 

Control  over  oneself  and  its  meaning  cannot  be 
emphasised  too  much.  Any  little  giving  way  that 
means  a  loosening  of  this  control  is  a  danger  point ; 
it  is  certain  that  if  you  cannot  control  the  man,  you 
cannot  control  the  game.  Of  course,  every  one  can 
recognise  the  obvious  examples  of  lack  of  control, 
most  of  us  know  by  experience  what  it  means,  but 
it  is  the  craftily  disguised  forms  that  one  must  train 
oneself  to  recognise  and  defeat.  Nothing  is  more 
common  than  to  see  one  bad  shot  followed  by  another. 
How  often  does  a  slice  of  good  luck  for  your  opponent 
unnecessarily  affect  you  ?  Who  amongst  us  has  not 
had  the  experience  of  the  days  when  equity  seems 
ruled  out  of  the  game  ?  You  may  play  the  hole  in 
a  perfect  five,  and  find  your  opponent  misses  three 
shots,  and  gets  a  four  ;  hole  after  hole  slips  away  from 
you,  and  yet  you  are  playing  points  better  than  your 


TEMPERAMENT  AND  OTHER  MATTERS  229 

opponent,  and  you  can  still  win,  if  you  can  resist  the 
terrifying  attack  on  your  control.  One  could  go  on 
enumerating  dozens  of  ways  in  which  one's  control  is  in- 
sidiously undermined,  but  I  feel  unequal  to  explaining 
clearly  what  I  mean,  for  I  am  but  a  beginner  myself. 

And  out  of  control  will  grow  confidence,  which  can 
hardly  be  described  as  a  cause,  but  an  effect ;  and  if 
there  is  one  truism  in  this  game  of  golf,  it  is  that 
confidence  is  more  than  halfway  to  success ;  and  I 
will  finish  this  section  by  giving  what  to  me  seemed 
a  splendid  example  of  courage,  control,  and  con- 
fidence. 

The  exemplar  was  Braid,  the  occasion  the  open 
championship  at  Prestwick  1908,  and  the  instance  his 
second  shot  to  the  twelfth  hole  in  the  third  round ; 
and  of  those  who  saw  it  few  who  understand  are 
ever  likely  to  forget.  Many  things  had  happened 
previously,  one  hole  had  very  nearly  destroyed  all  his 
chance ;  but  the  state  of  affairs  stood,  when  the  third 
round  was  being  played,  that  Braid  was  well  in  it, 
but  so  were  several  other  dangerous  men.  When  he 
came  to  his  drive,  which  needless  to  say  was  straight 
and  far,  he  hesitated.  Why  ?  Ninety -nine  out  of  a 
hundred  of  us  could  not  imagine ;  there  seemed  nothing 
to  do  but  hit  the  ball  a  long  way,  and  get  as  near  the 
wall  as  possible,  so  as  to  allow  for  a  pitch  over  on 
to  the  green. 

Braid  evidently  thought  otherwise,  for  he  calmly 
walked  the  whole  length  of  the  distance,  and  then 
took  his  brassey.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  a 
regular  shock  went  through  the  crowd ;  a  friend  stand- 


230  FROM  PROFESSIONAL'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

ing  near  me  said,  '  Good  heavens,  he  is  never  going  for 
it !  It  will  cost  him  the  championship ! '  and  be  it 
noted  it  was  no  ordinary  risk — there  was  quite  a  good 
chance  of  being  tucked  up  under  the  wall — and  neither 
was  it  a  '  death  or  glory '  shot. 

Well,  he  went  for  it,  all  out  this  time ;  and  if  you 
wanted  to  have  a  record  of  how  it  is  done,  you  should 
have  snapped  him  then.  The  ball  carried  the  wall, 
and,  never  an  inch  off  the  line,  ran  up  on  to  the  green, 
and  came  to  rest  a  few  feet  from  the  pin.  The  crowd 
were  excited  enough,  but  when  Jimmy  started  to 
move  after  the  shot,  it  was  with  the  same  long  steady 
stride  that  in  the  end  wears  us  all  down,  and  his  face 
had  the  same  sleepy,  rather  tired  expression,  yet  he 
had  just  played  a  shot  that  no  man  living  could 
better,  and  very  few  equal.  And  as  if  this  shot  was 
not  enough,  he  holed  the  putt,  and  how  many,  even 
if  the  first  shot  were  possible,  could  have  holed  that 
putt  ? 

It  has  been  suggested  that  when  the  psychologist 
has  examined,  photographed,  and  duly  explained  the 
type  of  man  who  is  temperamentally  best  fitted  to 
succeed  to  championships,  we  may  not  like  him. 
His  equipment  may  of  necessity  exclude  some  of  the 
traits  of  character  loved  by  all,  but  I  have  little  faith 
in  this  point  of  view,  for  what  I  have  observed  I 
1  like  it  much/  and  would  willingly  take  such,  say,  on  a 
voyage  to  4  Pitcairn  to  find  Victoria/  which  is  saying 
a  good  deal,  to  those  who  understand,  and  there  I  must 
leave  it. 

And  at  this  point  I  feel  like  one  who  has  just  emerged 


TEMPERAMENT  AND  OTHER  MATTERS     231 

from  a  dreadful  bunker,  after  hacking  away  at  the 
ball  with  a  club  ill  adapted  for  the  purpose. 

But  the  ball  is  out  at  last,  and  to  you,  my  partner, 
for  keeping  you  so  long,  and  trying  your  patience  so 
much,  I  ask  pardon.  The  round  has  been  unnecessarily 
long,  and  the  form  shown  abominably  bad,  but  it  will 
serve  a  purpose  if,  in  some  of  the  shots,  you  have 
caught  the  suggestion  of  a  new  idea  that  may  be  made 
to  help. 


PART  III 

MEN  OF  GENIUS 
By  C.  K.  HUTCHISON 


MEN  OF  GENIUS 

GENIUS  has  been  defined  as  '  the  infinite  capacity 
for  taking  pains,'  and  the  definition  is  certainly  a 
happy  one  when  applied  to  golf,  for  no  one  can  hope 
to  excel  at  this  most  exacting  of  all  games  unless 
possessed  of  this  quality.  Perfection  of  style  can 
only  be  acquired  by  careful  thought  and  patient 
practice. 

Good  style  is  the  invariable  attribute  of  the  first- 
class  exponent  of  every  game.  Though  primarily 
due  to  natural  gifts  of  eye  and  muscle,  it  must  be 
assisted  by  sufficient  intellectual  ability  to  enable 
these  gifts  to  be  utilised  to  their  fullest  advantage. 

There  are,  of  course,  certain  geniuses  of  every  game, 
who  apparently  do  many  things  wrong — in  point  of 
form — and  yet  do  everything  perfectly — in  point  of 
result — but  the  exponent  of  an  eccentric  style  can 
hardly  hope  to  produce  such  consistently  good  results 
as  the  more  orthodox  performer.  Style  is  the  manner 
that  most  completely  and  effectively  conforms  with 
the  matter — a  fact  which  the  professional  adviser 
might  well  bear  in  mind  when  he  is  vainly  endeavour- 
ing to  impart  his  own  free  style  to  the  middle-aged 
neophyte,  whose  stiffening  muscles  and  possibly 
rotund  proportions  naturally  resent  such  unusual 
treatment. 

2S5 


236  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

Voluminous  treatises,  supplemented  by  instan- 
taneous photography,  must  have  familiarised  the 
styles  of  the  leading  celebrities  to  the  present 
generation  of  golfers,  so  I  am  not  going  to  attempt 
to  describe  them  in  detail,  but  will  merely  endeavour 
to  point  out  their  chief  characteristics. 

During  the  last  fifteen  years  the  foremost  figures 
in  the  golfing  world  have  undoubtedly  been  the  three 
great  professionals,  generally  known  as  the  Triumvirate. 
Not  only  have  they  achieved  a  wonderful  record,  but 
they  are  extraordinarily  attractive  players  to  watch. 
Although  Vardon,  Braid,  and  Taylor  are  men  of  totally 
different  build,  they  possess  in  common  unusual 
strength  of  wrist  and  hand,  and  a  profound  know- 
ledge of  wrist-work  ;  and  it  is  in  both  these  essentials 
that  the  professionals  can  claim  a  marked  superiority 
over  the  majority  of  amateurs.  It  not  only  enables 
them  to  hit  the  ball  very  far  and  straight  with  appar- 
ently little  effort,  but  gives  them  the  additional 
advantage  of  being  able  to  control  distances  with  a 
half -shot,  where  feebler  folk  must  rely  on  a  full  swing. 

Mr.  Darwin  considers  that  the  half -shot  is  the  more 
difficult  shot  of  the  two.  Personally  I  cannot  agree 
with  him,  and  certainly  the  leading  professionals  aver 
a  decided  preference  for  the  half-shot,  and  the 
majority,  at  any  rate,  carry  out  this  theory  in 
practice.  Vardon  is  undoubtedly  the  most  graceful 
of  the  three  great  professors. 

There  is  a  beautiful  rhythm  about  all  his  strokes, 
and  a  perfection  of  poise  which  is  quite  unique.  Mr. 
Darwin,  though  obviously  a  sincere  admirer,  considers 


MEN  OF  GENIUS  237 

that  Vardon's  style  is  hardly  a  safe  one  to  attempt 
to  copy.  He  takes  exception  to  the  rather  abrupt 
lift  of  the  club  in  the  middle  of  the  backward  swing. 
I  cannot  help  thinking  that  Vardon  has  lately 
modified  the  one  peculiarity  in  an  otherwise  faultless 
performance. 

Braid's  style  always  gives  me  the  impression  of 
great  power  under  perfect  control.  He  certainly 
possesses  a  reserve  force,  which  he  produces  with 
unfailing  regularity  when  the  occasion  demands. 
No  conceivable  bad  lie  has  the  slightest  terrors 
for  him,  and  the  straightness  and  accuracy  of 
his  recoveries  from  really  horrible  situations  are 
even  more  wonderful  than  the  amazing  distance  he 
succeeds  in  hitting  the  ball.  Another  very  notice- 
able feature  of  his  game  is  his  perfect  command  of 
trajectory  with  every  club.  His  long  low  shots  against 
a  head  wind  with  wooden  and  iron  clubs  alike  are 
magnificent,  and  he  is  perhaps  the  greatest  master  of 
the  running  approach.  At  one  period  of  his  career 
he  was  a  distinctly  moderate  putter,  but  it  is  a  rare 
occasion  now  when  his  work  on  the  green  can  be 
described  as  faulty. 

When  Taylor  won  his  first  championship  at 
Sandwich  his  driving  was  so  accurate  that  no  hazards 
existed  for  him  except  the  guide-flags,  at  least  one  of 
which  he  is  said  to  have  struck.  He  is  without 
exception  the  most  machine-like  and  accurate  player 
that  has  as  yet  appeared.  His  driving  style  is  quite 
peculiar  to  himself,  combining  a  very  flat  swing  with 
a  most  curious  finish — as  Mr.  Darwin  describes  it, 


238  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

with  the  hands  tucked  away  in  the  pit  of  the  stomach. 
It  is  a  wonderfully  compact  style,  with  the  right 
elbow  kept  very  close  to  the  side,  suggesting  a  tre- 
mendous amount  of  wrist-work.  At  one  time  he 
favoured  the  very  open  stance,  but,  like  many  others, 
seems  to  have  modified  this  peculiarity  considerably 
of  late  years. 

Outside  the  Triumvirate  there  is  no  player  who  has 
played  finer  or  more  consistent  golf  than  A.  Herd, 
though  he  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  had  his  fair 
share  of  fortune  in  the  championship.  But  he  is  always 
there  or  thereabouts,  and  the  reason  is  not  hard  to 
find,  as  he  has  probably  the  truest  swing  of  any  living 
golfer.  He  differs  from  most  of  his  professional 
brethren  by  adhering  to  the  old  style  of  gripping  the 
club.  In  fact,  he  seems  to  sink  the  club  well  into 
the  palm  of  the  hand,  but  it  does  not  apparently 
hamper  his  wrist- work,  as  is  proved  by  his  swing 
being  distinctly  long  and  very  supple.  A  considerable 
amount  of  body  work  is  conspicuous,  and  his  crouching 
address  and  determined  waggle  are  distinctive  features 
of  his  game.  He  is  equally  good  in  all  departments — 
a  fine  driver,  good  approacher,  and  usually  an 
excellent  putter,  though  failure  to  hole  the  four- 
footers  certainly  cost  him  the  championship  at 
Sandwich  in  1911. 

When  Arnaud  Massy  won  the  championship  at 
Hoylake  in  1907,  he  only  fulfilled  the  prophecies  of 
those  best  qualified  to  judge  his  qualities.  The 
severe  weather  conditions  which  prevailed  on  that 
occasion  suited  his  style  of  play,  as  he  is  very  power- 


MEN  OF  GENIUS  239 

fully  built,  and  drives  a  very  long  ball  with  a  decidedly 
low  trajectory.  His  swing  is  distinctly  of  the 
4  headsman  '  type,  the  club  being  taken  over  the  head 
and  not  round  the  shoulder,  and  he  appears  to  get 
an  extra  twist  of  the  wrists  (which  must  be  unusually 
strong  and  supple)  at  the  top  of  the  swing  which  seems 
to  give  him  additional  power.  His  left  knee  turns 
unusually  late  in  the  upward  swing,  giving  an  im- 
pression of  great  solidity  of  stance.  He  is  a  beautiful 
putter,  and,  as  Mr.  Darwin  points  out,  shares  with 
other  fine  putters  the  habit  of  taking  the  putter  well 
back  from  the  ball,  and  consequently  striking  it  a 
very  free  blow. 

G.  Duncan  is  another  example  of  the  '  headsman  ' 
type.  He  is  supposed  to  have  modelled  his  style 
on  Vardon's,  but  Duncan  certainly  takes  the  club 
higher  over  the  head  than  the  former  does.  In  other 
respects  his  style  bears  a  distinct  resemblance  to  his 
model.  Beautiful  free  wrist- work  and  an  exception- 
ally fine  follow-through  help  him  to  drive  a  tremendous 
distance,  and  his  iron  play  is  crisp,  clean,  and  well 
controlled.  The  extraordinary  rapidity  of  his  play 
might  possibly  be  slightly  modified,  but  the  results 
obtained  are  surely  an  object-lesson  to  the  players 
who  fondly  imagine  that  their  wearisome  methods  will 
help  them  to  attain  fame. 

Sherlock  is  a  striking  example  of  a  player  improving 
one  department  of  his  game  by  changing  the  course 
he  most  habitually  plays  on.  Always  a  beautiful 
putter  and  approacher,  it  is  only  since  his  advent  to 
Stoke  Poges  that  he  has  attained  the  length  of 


240  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

driving  which  is  absolutely  essential  in  the  highest 
class  of  golf.  Possessed  of  a  sound  quiet  style,  he 
appears  to  play  every  stroke  in  the  simplest  and  most 
natural  manner,  and  his  putting  method  is  particularly 
easy  and  effective.  He  favours  the  old  fashion  of 
grip,  even  with  the  putter.  The  only  peculiarity 
about  his  style  is  his  habit  of  addressing  the  ball  with 
the  extreme  toe  of  the  driver — in  fact  the  club  head  is 
almost  clear  of  the  ball. 

Jack  White  is  another  very  fine  putter.  When  he 
won  the  championship  at  Sandwich  he  never  missed 
a  putt  which  he  could  reasonably  be  expected  to  hole. 
Contrary  to  Sherlock,  he  interlocks  very  considerably, 
and  when  holing  out  adopts  a  stance  with  the  right 
foot  immediately  behind  the  ball.  He  is  apt  to  go 
off  his  driving  now  and  then,  and  on  these  occasions  a 
disastrous  hook  becomes  very  evident ;  and,  curiously, 
it  is  a  fault  which  he  shares  with  perhaps  the  finest 
putter  who  ever  handled  a  club.  I  imagine  that  few 
will  dispute  Willie  Park's  claim  to  that  title.  Park's 
method  of  putting  certainly  favoured  the  use  of  the 
right  hand,  and  he  hit  the  ball  with  a  rising  club,  thus 
imparting  overspin,  and  endowing  the  ball  with  that 
running-on  power  which  was  a  very  conspicuous 
feature  of  his  play  on  the  green.  He  was  hardly  ever 
short  with  an  approach  putt,  and  holing  out  had  no 
terrors  for  him. 

Approach  putting  was,  I  think,  certainly  at  one 
time,  the  deadliest  part  of  Andrew  Kirkaldy's  game. 
He  tied  with  Park  for  the  championship  at  Mussel- 
burgh,  but  was  defeated  in  the  play-off.  A  fine 


c      <        »       c  c 


EDWARD  RAY 
Open  Golf  Champion,  1912 


(To  face  p.  241 


MEN  OF  GENIUS  241 

player  with  all  his  clubs,  his  touch  with  the  wooden 
putter,  particularly  at  St.  Andrews  when  the  greens 
were  glassy,  was  wonderful.  With  a  quick,  short 
swing,  he  drove  a  very  long  ball,  and  could  punch  it 
an  incredible  distance  with  a  half -shot  with  the  iron. 
In  the  opinion  of  many  he  is  the  finest  golfer  who 
never  quite  succeeded  in  winning  the  championship. 

Of  all  professional  golfers  E.  Ray,  the  champion, 
is  the  most  prodigious  smiter.  Tall  and  powerfully 
built,  there  are  no  half -measures  about  his  game. 
He  seems  to  put  every  ounce  of  his  weight  into  the 
stroke,  but  the  distinct  forward  lunge  of  the  body  is 
sometimes  apt  to  make  his  long  game  a  trifle  erratic. 
He  is  certainly  one  of  the  few  players  who  always 
appears  to  be  perfectly  unconcerned  and  happy — 
even  on  the  most  important  occasion. 

Tom  Vardon  is  the  happy  possessor  of  a  very 
similar  temperament.  His  departure  for  America 
is  a  great  loss  to  Sandwich,  where  his  cheerful  dis- 
position made  him  a  general  favourite.  As  an  iron 
player  and  putter  he  had  no  superior,  but  his  driving, 
especially  against  the  wind,  sometimes  let  him  down 
a  little.  He  invariably  drove  a  very  high  ball,  the 
result  probably  of  playing  nearly  all  his  golf  at 
Sandwich. 

Tom  Ball  came  into  prominence  in  1908,  when  he 
was  second  in  the  championship  at  Prestwick.  He 
repeated  the  performance  the  very  next  year  at  Deal, 
and  also  succeeded  in  winning  the  News  of  the  World 
tournament.  His  style  of  driving  is  somewhat 
curious,  by  reason  of  a  kind  of  dip  and  knuckle  in  of 

Q 


242  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

the  right  knee  in  the  act  of  striking.  He  is  a  fine 
approacher,  especially  with  the  mashie,  and  a  deadly 
wielder  of  the  aluminium  putter.  He  believes  in 
giving  the  back  of  the  hole  a  chance. 

There  is  no  greater  character  in  the  world  of  golf 
than  Bernard  Sayers.  Not  only  is  he  a  wonderfully 
scientific  player,  who  makes  up  for  his  lack  of  inches 
by  every  trick  which  the  ingenuity  of  man  could  invent, 
but  he  is  a  splendid  instructor,  always  ready  with  some 
new-fangled  club  or  latest  infallible  tip  to  revive  the 
jaded  spirits  of  the  struggling  tyro,  or  for  that  matter 
of  the  accomplished  player  when  off  his  game. 

R.  Thompson  is  another  player  who,  like  Sayers, 
learnt  his  golf  at  North  Berwick.  He  is  a  steady, 
consistent  player,  who  only  lacks  that  little  extra 
power  which  seems  necessary  to  the  winning  of 
championships. 

W.  Watt,  who  hails  from  the  same  part  of  Scotland, 
is  a  very  similar  player,  and,  like  most  East  Lothian 
golfers,  is  a  beautiful  pitcher  and  putter. 

Mayo  is  another  very  steady,  painstaking  player, 
who  has  not  so  far  done  himself  justice  in  the 
championship. 

Of  the  younger  school  Laurence  Ayton  and  T. 
Fernie  are  very  promising. 

F.  Robson  is  one  of  the  most  promising  of  the 
younger  school.  His  best  achievement  was  reaching 
the  final  of  the  News  of  the  World  tournament  in 
1908,  and  giving  J.  H.  Taylor  a  very  hard  final  match 
over  the  latter  player's  own  course — Mid-Surrey. 
He  is  very  powerful,  and  possesses  a  fine  free  swing. 


MEN  OF  GENIUS  243 

At  one  time  he  appeared  to  play  rather  too  much  for 
a  pull,  but  I  think  that  he  has  modified  that  tendency 
considerably  of  late.  He  should  have  a  good  career 
before  him. 

W.  E.  Reid  is  another  promising  young  player 
with  a  neat  and  effective  style. 

Though  T.  Renouf  has  never  succeeded  in  winning 
the  championship,  he  has  always  been  well  up  in  it, 
and  reached  the  final  of  the  News  of  the  World 
tournament  in  1908.  He  is  a  very  steady  and 
consistent  performer. 

The  same  remark  applies  to  G.  Coburn,  who  has 
scored  many  successes  in  Ireland  as  well  as  in  this 
country,  and  Rowland  Jones,  Moran  (who  hails  from 
Ireland),  Fulford,  Ritchie,  Toogood,  Kinnell,  J.  Rowe, 
T.  Williamson  and  E.  Gray  have  all  made  their 
mark. 

In  the  space  at  disposal  it  is  impossible  to  include 
many  fine  young  players,  not  to  mention  the  giants 
of  the  past  such  as  D.  Rolland,  who  was  the  mightiest 
hitter  of  his  day,  Tom  Morris  and  his  brilliant  son, 
the  Simpsons,  Willie  Fernie,  Willie  Auchterlonie, 
Allan  Robertson,  and  many  another  hero  whose 
doughty  deeds  are  fast  fading  into  antiquity. 

If  I  have  been  prevented  by  lack  of  space  from 
including  all  the  professionals  I  could  have  wished, 
how  hopelessly  difficult  it  is  to  select  a  list  of  amateurs 
which  can  be  deemed  to  be  in  any  way  representative. 
There  must  be  at  least  forty  players,  perhaps  more, 
who  are  quite  capable  of  winning  the  amateur 
championship.  How  different  from  the  time  when 


244  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

probable  aspirants  to  the  honour  might  almost  have 
been  counted  on  the  fingers  of  one  hand.  Yet  these 
very  players  are  still  a  force  to  be  reckoned  with  ; 
and  a  very  considerable  force  too,  as  one  of  their 
number,  Mr.  John  Ball,  won  the  event  this  year 
(1912),  and  Mr.  J.  E.  Laidlay  and  Mr.  Horace  G. 
Hutchinson  have  both  survived  to  the  later  stages  of 
the  competition  in  recent  years. 

I  imagine  that  few,  if  any,  will  quarrel  with  the 
assertion  that  Mr.  John  Ball  stands  out  pre-eminently 
as  the  greatest  amateur  who  ever  swung  a  club. 
He  can  claim  the  open  championship,  eight  amateur 
championships,  and  over  a  hundred  medals  at  Hoylake 
alone,  not  to  mention  three  Irish  championships  and 
four  St.  George's  Cups.  He  is  the  happy  possessor  of  a 
physique  and  a  temperament  singularly  well  adapted 
to  the  game,  and  his  style  is  a  model  of  grace  and 
ease,  especially  since  he  modified  the  abnormally 
wide  stance  of  his  more  youthful  days.  His  grip,  with 
the  club  well  home  in  the  palm  of  the  hand,  and  the 
right  hand  very  much  under,  is  certainly  curious, 
but  I  imagine  that  Mr.  Darwin  is  right  in  saying  that 
the  club  is  gripped  with  the  second,  third,  and  little 
finger  of  the  right  hand,  which  allows  it  to  ride  loose 
in  the  forefinger  and  thumb.  He  is  a  beautiful  cleek 
and  iron  player,  and  his  cut  shot,  played  with  a 
medium  iron,  which  he  uses  even  to  get  out  of  a  bunker 
with  a  steep  face  to  surmount,  is  quite  unique. 
Mercifully  he  sometimes  misses  a  short  putt,  though 
his  approach  putting  is  usually  so  good  that  he  can 
well  afford  to  miss  one  occasionally. 


MEN  OF  GENIUS  245 

His  ofttime  opponent,  Mr.  J.  E.  Laidlay,  has  very 
nearly  as  fine  a  record.  Twice  amateur  champion, 
thrice  runner-up,  he  also  came  within  an  ace  of  winning 
the  open  championship  at  Prestwick  in  1893.  His 
collection  of  medals  is  quite  unique.  St.  Andrews, 
North  Berwick,  Musselburgh,  Muirfield,  Hoylake  and 
Prestwick  have  all  contributed  their  quota  to  the 
harvest ;  and  it  is  little  wonder  that  all  these  courses 
appear  to  suit  him  equally  well,  as  he  is  without 
exception  the  most  accomplished  master  of  iron  clubs. 

Most  players  prefer  one  particular  shot  to  another, 
but  Mr.  Laidlay  appears  to  have  no  preference,  as  he 
plays  every  variety  of  iron  stroke  with  an  equal 
measure  of  ease  and  success.  He  is  also  a  very  fine 
putter,  particularly  on  a  keen  green.  The  one  weak 
spot  in  his  game  has  always  been  his  wooden  club  play. 
Not  that  he  drives  badly — far  from  it — but  every  now 
and  then  there  is  a  lapse,  made  more  noticeable  by 
reason  of  the  general  excellence  of  the  rest  of  his  game. 
Mr.  Laidlay  is  no  believer  in  orthodox  methods. 
Like  Mr.  Ball,  he  has  considerably  modified  his  stance, 
but  he  still  draws  his  weight  away  from  the  ball  in 
the  back  swing,  and  brings  it  back  again  at  the  moment 
of  impact.  It  is  a  style  worthy  of  all  admiration, 
but  hardly  of  imitation.  Few,  if  any,  have  sufficient 
genius  to  attempt  such  methods. 

The  name  of  the  third  partner,  of  what  might  well 
have  been  called  the  amateur  Triumvirate,  so  success- 
fully did  they  defy  all  outside  opposition  for  so  many 
years,  is  surely  a  household  word  wherever  golf  is  played. 
Not  only  has  Mr.  Horace  G.  Hutchinson  a  great 


246  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

record  as  a  player,  but  he  can  claim  an  equally  great 
record  as  a  writer  on  the  game,  and  has  probably 
done  more  to  popularise  golf  than  any  living  man. 
Whether  he  is  a  benefactor  thereby  is  a  matter  of 
opinion.  He  won  his  first  amateur  championship  in 
1886,  repeated  the  performance  the  following  year, 
and  reached  the  final  on  two  subsequent  occasions. 
He  led  the  field  at  the  end  of  the  first  day  of  the  open 
championship  on  the  occasion  of  the  extension  of  the 
tournament  to  seventy-two  holes,  and  needless  to  say 
has  won  many  medals  on  various  courses.  His  style 
is  certainly  a  distinctive  one,  and  especially  noticeable 
for  the  slackness  of  the  knees  and  for  what  Mr.  Darwin 
describes  as  the  slight  '  hang  '  in  the  middle  of  the 
back  swing.  It  is  a  loose,  free  style,  and  his  swing 
with  iron  clubs  is  unusually  long.  He  is  essentially 
a  resourceful  player,  with  complete  command  over 
all  his  clubs,  even  the  wonderful  weapon  which  he 
invariably  uses  off  the  tee. 

Scotland  has  certainly  never  produced  a  finer  all- 
round  athlete  than  Mr.  Leslie  Balfour  Melville. 
An  international  football  player,  the  best  bat  in 
Scotland,  he  also  won  the  Scottish  lawn-tennis  cham- 
pionship, though  I  cannot  think  that  the  northern 
climate  could  ever  permit  this  game  to  reach  a  very 
high  standard.  When  he  turned  his  attentions 
seriously  to  golf,  he  quickly  made  his  presence  felt, 
and  crowned  his  achievements  by  winning  the  amateur 
championship  at  St.  Andrews  in  1895.  He  has  always 
been  a  little  more  formidable  at  St.  Andrews  than 
anywhere  else,  and  no  one  has  won  so  many  medals 


MEN  OF  GENIUS  247 

over  what  is  undoubtedly  his  favourite  course.  His 
style  is  often  cited  as  a  model  for  the  young  player, 
and  the  true  deliberate  swing,  with  the  fine  follow- 
through  of  the  arms  in  the  intended  line  of  the  ball's 
flight,  is  worthy  of  imitation.  Like  all  St.  Andrews 
players,  he  is  a  master  of  the  running  approach,  and 
unlike  some  of  them,  he  is  also  a  beautiful  pitcher. 
He  plays  all  his  approaches  with  rather  a  stiff  wrist, 
but  he  keeps  his  body  beautifully  still — one  of  the 
main  factors  of  successful  iron  play. 

Mr.  S.  Mure  Fergusson  learnt  most  of  his  golf  at 
St.  Andrews,  though  he  has  also  played  a  great  deal 
in  the  south.  His  style  slightly  resembles  Mr. 
Balfour  Melville's,  especially  in  the  deliberate  back 
swing  and  fine  follow-through.  He  has  one  stroke 
peculiarly  his  own,  which  he  calls  his  push-shot,  and 
it  is  the  only  shot  of  the  kind  which  really  merits  the 
name.  It  differs  very  materially  from  the  push-shot 
as  played  by  Vardon,  etc.,  which  in  their  case  is  a 
misnomer  —  stab-shot  would  be  more  appropriate. 
Mr.  Fergusson  takes  his  club  back  a  very  short  dis- 
tance, and  seems  to  literally  push  the  ball  with  his 
arms,  the  wrists  being  kept  quite  rigid.  It  is  a  very 
powerful  stroke,  and  especially  useful  against  a  head 
wind.  Although  he  never  actually  won  the  amateur 
championship  (he  reached  the  final  at  Hoy  lake  in 
1894,  only  to  lose  to  Mr.  Ball  at  the  last  hole),  he  has 
a  splendid  record,  which  is  only  to  be  expected  from 
a  player  of  such  power  and  determination. 

No  list  of  those,  who  I  trust  will  not  resent  being 
designated  as  the  older  generation,  is  complete  without 


248  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

some  mention  of  Mr.  Charles  Hutchings,  who  accom- 
plished the  unparalleled  feat  of  winning  the  amateur 
championship  when  a  grandfather.  He  is  one  of 
the  few  players  who,  though  handicapped  by  a  com- 
paratively late  start,  still  attained  to  the  highest 
class.  Very  straight  and  steady  with  all  his  clubs, 
he  possessed  great  power  of  forcing  the  ball  from  a 
bad  lie,  and  was  invariably  a  beautiful  putter. 

Mr.  Alexander  Stuart  was  another  very  fine  player, 
and  though  he  never  won  the  championship,  he  won 
the  Irish  championship,  and  had  a  splendid  record, 
especially  at  St.  Andrews.  He  had  a  long  deliberate 
swing,  and  drove  a  beautiful  ball  with  apparent 
absence  of  effort. 

Mr.  H.  H.  Hilton  is  a  very  interesting  personality 
in  the  golfing  world,  not  only  on  account  of  his 
wonderful  record,  but  also  as  supplying  a  link  between 
the  old  and  the  new  schools  of  golf.  His  many 
successes  include  two  open  championships,  three 
amateur  championships,  and  he  capped  all  previous 
records  in  1911  by  winning  the  amateur  championship 
both  here  and  in  America,  and  by  failing  by  the 
narrowest  possible  margin  to  win  the  open  champion- 
ship at  Sandwich.  He  is  the  most  scientific  of  all  the 
great  players,  and  possesses  the  most  complete  mastery 
over  all  his  clubs.  To  perfect  control  of  trajectory 
he  adds  the  power  to  hook  and  slice  at  will,  though 
personally  I  prefer  his  driving  when  he  is  not  going 
out  for  the  hook.  He  is  the  greatest  master  of  the 
spoon,  his  half -shot  with  that  club  being  a  most  striking 
feature  of  his  game.  He  is  a  great  believer  in  the 


:  v  o 


:  .•;. 


MEN  OF  GENIUS  249 

follow-through — his  own  might  almost  be  described  as 
a  '  fling,'  by  reason  of  its  very  exuberance.  Another 
characteristic  is  the  care  with  which  he  adjusts  his 
feet  in  relation  to  the  shot  intended.  He  is  facile 
princeps  at  the  short  game,  especially  with  the 
mashie,  when  a  quick  stopping  shot  is  necessary. 
The  ball  on  these  occasions  is  played  boldly  up  to 
the  hole  with  lots  of  cut,  and  drops  like  a  poached 
egg  at  the  hole  side. 

His  opponent  in  the  memorable  final  of  the  amateur 
championship  at  St.  Andrews  in  1901,  Mr.  J.  L.  Low, 
is  also  a  very  scientific  player,  and  a  very  good  judge 
of  the  game.  He  is  also  a  leading  figure  in  golfing 
politics,  and  is  the  author  of  several  golfing  works  of 
no  little  merit.  He  is  a  great  exponent  not  only  of 
the  theory  of  the  wooden  putter,  but  also  of  the 
correct  style  of  wielding  it,  his  methods  being  in  direct 
contrast  to  many  who  favour  the  old-fashioned  type 
of  weapon,  whether  it  be  made  of  wood  or  aluminium. 
Mr.  Low  trusts  entirely  to  his  wrists,  taking  the  putter 
well  back,  and  striking  the  ball  a  beautifully  free  blow. 
His  running  approaches  are  nearly  as  great  a  feature 
of  his  game,  and  are  also  played  in  the  correct  style, 
i.e.  with  a  smooth  stroke  and  a  rising  club,  and  not 
with  the  species  of  jab  so  much  affected  by  some  of 
the  younger  school. 

In  the  early  'nineties  a  most  formidable  young 
player  began  to  make  his  presence  felt  in  the  important 
events,  and  in  1893  reached  the  semi-final  of  the 
amateur  championship.  But  it  was  not  till  1896  that 
the  late  Mr.  F.  G.  Tait  succeeded  in  winning  the  event 


250  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

which  proved  a  veritable  triumph  for  him,  as  in 
addition  to  winning  the  St.  George's  Cup,  he  defeated 
Messrs.  Hutchings,  Laidlay,  Ball,  Horace  Hutchinson, 
and  Hilton  successively,  his  play,  especially  in  the 
final,  being  a  revelation.  He  very  nearly  succeeded 
in  winning  the  open  championship  at  Muirfield  the 
same  year,  and  won  the  amateur  championship  for 
the  second  time  at  Hoylake  in  1898.  He  reached  the 
final  again  at  Prestwick  in  1899,  only  to  be  defeated 
by  Mr.  Ball  at  the  thirty-seventh  hole.  In  addition 
to  these  feats,  he  won  every  important  event  at  St. 
Andrews,  and  again  and  again  proved  himself  to  be 
not  only  indubitably  the  best  player  in  the  Royal 
and  Ancient  Club,  but  probably  the  greatest  amateur 
Scotland  ever  produced.  To  what  heights  his  genius 
might  have  attained  with  the  rubber-cored  ball  (which 
he  never  had  the  chance  of  playing  with)  can  only  be 
conjectured.  His  style  gave  an  extraordinary  impres- 
sion of  control  and  latent  power,  and  when  occasion 
demanded  he  seldom  failed  to  produce  a  great  effort. 
He  possessed  a  wonderful  temperament,  and  always 
played  in  the  true  sporting  spirit — without  which 
surely  games  lose  most  of,  if  not  all,  their  true  value. 

The  late  Dr.  A.  J.  T.  Allan  was  almost  unknown  as 
a  golfer  when  he  won  the  amateur  championship  at 
Muirfield  in  1897.  His  sad  death  from  pneumonia, 
a  few  months  later,  prevented  confirmation  of  the 
great  capabilities  he  undoubtedly  possessed. 

Mr.  P.  C.  Anderson  was  the  first  to  check  the  vic- 
torious career  of  Messrs.  Ball,  Hutchinson,  and  Laid- 
lay by  defeating  the  latter  in  the  final  at  Prestwick  in 


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MEN  OF  GENIUS  251 

1893.  Like  many  another  winner,  he  owed  his  victory 
to  magnificent  putting.  His  departure  to  Australia  pre- 
vented him  from  taking  further  part  in  first-class  golf. 
Mr.  R.  Maxwell  first  came  into  prominence  in  1897, 
when  he  astonished  most  people  by  defeating  Mr. 
Ball  and  Mr.  Hilton  in  the  amateur  championship  at 
Muirfield.  This  performance  did  not  surprise  his 
friends  in  the  least,  as  they  were  fully  aware  of  the 
extraordinary  power  and  accuracy  of  his  game  even 
in  those  early  days.  Although  he  has  never  cared 
for  the  glaring  publicity  of  championships  or  for 
competitions  of  any  kind  or  description,  he  has  suc- 
ceeded in  winning  the  amateur  championship  twice, 
been  well  up  in  the  open,  and  has  annexed  a  St.  George's 
Cup  and  every  medal  of  note  at  North  Berwick,  St. 
Andrews  and  Muirfield,  the  latter,  judging  by  results, 
being  his  favourite  course.  His  style  is  not  only  quite 
peculiar  to  himself,  but  I  think  is  rather  deceptive. 
Though  he  is  generally  credited  with  having  a  short 
swing,  I  am  not  at  all  sure  that  this  is  the  case.  Not 
only  does  the  club  head  describe  a  very  wide  flat  arc, 
but  his  hands  travel  very  far,  and  are  higher  at  the 
top  of  the  swing  than  the  majority  of  players  ever 
reach.  By  reason  of  its  very  obvious  power,  one  is 
a  trifle  apt  to  underestimate  his  exceptionally  fine 
touch  and  skilful  manipulation  of  delicate  shots. 
His  pitch-and-run  approach,  played  with  an  unusual 
club,  a  niblick,  and  his  long  approach  putts  are  perhaps 
the  most  telling  part  of  his  game.  Nothing  could 
have  been  finer  than  two  of  these  typical  approaches 
to  the  thirty-fifth  and  thirty-sixth  holes  in  the  final 


252  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

of  the  last  amateur  championship  at  Muirfield.  They 
were  so  obviously  played  exactly  as  intended,  that 
they  thoroughly  deserved  to  win  the  match  and  the 
championship.1 

We  now  come  to  a  player  who,  though  he  is  by 
common  consent  one  of  the  most  brilliant  of  modern 
golfers,  has  never  yet  succeeded  in  winning  the 
amateur  championship.  Mr.  J.  Graham  has  certainly 
been  very  unlucky  in  this  event.  Time  after  time, 
when  he  looked  all  over  a  winner,  an  opponent  put  up 
an  unusually  brilliant  game  and  snatched  victory  from 
his  grasp.  Granted  that  fortune  has  been  very 
unkind,  he  is  certainly  not  blessed  with  a  temperament 
capable  of  withstanding  a  very  prolonged  strain,  and 
I  have  always  thought  that  his  driving  style  might  be 
a  trifle  apt  to  break  down  under  pressure.  His  swing 
decidedly  belongs  to  the  '  headsman '  type,  and  the 
club  is  taken  abnormally  high  above  the  head.  If, 
in  addition,  he  is  rising  a  little  on  his  toes,  very  perfect 
timing  becomes  imperative  to  prevent  the  ball  being 
topped,  and  this  is  exactly  the  form  in  which  a  partial 
breakdown  of  his  game  sometimes  exhibits  itself  in 
such  tantalising  fashion  at  the  critical  moment.  I 
hope  that  Mr.  Graham  will  forgive  my  attempted 
explanation  of  an  extraordinary  phenomenon,  namely 
that  such  a  superlatively  good  player  should  have 
failed  so  far  to  win  a  title  to  which  no  one  ever  had 
greater  claims.  His  suppleness  of  wrist  is  a  very 

1  Captain  Hutchison's  modesty  prevents  his  mentioning  that  he, 
equally  deserving  of  championship  honour,  was  the  unhappy  victim 
of  these  two  very  remarkable  strokes. — ED. 


MEN  OF  GENIUS  253 

conspicuous  feature  of  his  play,  and  enables  him  to 
drive  a  very  long  ball  with  a  rather  low  trajectory  ; 
and  he  is  a  beautiful  iron  player. 

Mr.  Edward  Blackwell  is  famous  as  being  the 
longest  driver  in  the  history  of  the  game.  In  addition 
to  great  physical  strength,  he  possesses  a  glorious 
swing,  and  being  unusually  supple  for  such  a  heavily 
muscled  man,  it  is  little  wonder  that  the  ball  flies 
such  prodigious  distances.  He  is  not  only  a  very 
powerful,  but  is  also  a  very  crafty  driver,  taking  every 
advantage  of  the  wind.  Since  taking  to  an  aluminium 
putter  he  has  become  very  deadly  in  that  department, 
especially  at  St.  Andrews,  which  he  knows  by  heart. 
On  less  familiar  courses  he  appears  sometimes  to 
find  unusual  difficulty  in  judging  distances. 

St.  Andrews  can  also  claim  Mr.  J.  Robb  as  one  of 
her  most  successful  products,  as  he  learnt,  or  at  any 
rate  put  the  finishing  touches  to,  his  game  while  he 
was  studying  at  the  Madras  College.  In  spite  of  this 
fact  his  methods  are  the  antithesis  of  what  is  generally 
regarded  as  the  true  St.  Andrews  style.  His  swing 
is  short  and  rapid,  and  he  relies  principally  on 
strength  of  wrist  and  forearm.  There  is  one  feature  of 
his  play  which  is  common  to  nearly  all  St.  Andrews 
players — he  is  a  beautiful  putter  ;  but  even  here  he 
differs  from  most  of  them  by  using  a  putting  cleek 
instead  of  the  traditional  wooden  weapon.  He  was 
amateur  champion  in  1906,  was  twice  runner-up,  and 
reached  the  semi-final  on  four  occasions. 

Mr.  E.  A.  Lassen  first  earned  fame  by  winning  the 
Yorkshire  championship  in  1900,  but  although  he  was 


254  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

recognised  as  a  very  sound  player,  his  win  in  the 
amateur  championship  at  Sandwich  in  1908  occasioned 
considerable  surprise.  That  it  was  no  fluke  he  has 
ably  demonstrated  by  his  fine  play  in  the  open 
championship  at  Deal  the  following  year,  and  by 
again  reaching  the  final  at  Prestwick  in  1911.  As 
might  be  expected  from  such  a  hard  hitter  at  cricket 
(he  was  a  member  of  the  Rugby  XI.),  he  is  a  powerful 
player  with  all  his  clubs.  His  chief  strength,  however, 
lies  in  his  putting,  and  absolutely  imperturbable 
temperament.  As  Mr.  Darwin  points  out,  he  is  one 
of  the  few  really  good  putters  who  putt  with  a  stiff 
wrist. 

If  Mr.  Lassen  gained  a  surprise  victory  in  1908, 
it  was  nothing  as  compared  with  Mr.  Gordon  Barry's 
win  at  Prestwick  in  1905,  as  he  was  practically  unknown 
away  from  St.  Andrews.  That  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  considering  that  he  was  only  twenty  years  of  age. 
At  his  best  Mr.  Barry  is  a  most  formidable  player, 
since  he  combines  exceptional  length  with  a  very 
accurate  short  game.  He  obtains  his  length  by  what 
used  to  be  the  most  remarkable  follow-through. 
Increasing  years  have  doubtless  led  to  a  modification 
of  a  performance  which  could  only  be  accomplished 
by  a  very  supple  and  youthful  anatomy. 

Mr.  Guy  Campbell,  who  is  a  contemporary  of  Mr. 
Barry's,  nearly  emulated  the  latter's  youthful  triumph, 
when  he  just  succumbed  in  the  ante-final  to  the 
eventual  winner,  Mr.  Ball,  after  a  match  which  ho 
ought  certainly  never  to  have  lost.  He  also  learnt 
most  of  his  golf  at  St.  Andrews,  and  has  been 


MEN  OF  GENIUS  255 

conspicuously  successful  there.  A  fine  driver,  with  a 
well-controlled  style,  he  also  has  a  great  number  of 
shots  in  his  repertory — so  many,  in  fact,  that  he  some- 
times appears  to  find  considerable  difficulty  in  deciding 
which  he  will  play. 

Few  players  have  given  a  better  account  of  them- 
selves in  the  amateur  championship  than  Mr.  C.  E. 
Dick.  Year  after  year  saw  him  reach  the  last  eight 
quite  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  he  reached  the  semi- 
final at  Sandwich  in  1908.  His  driving  is  apt  to  be  a 
trifle  uncertain  at  times,  a  tendency  to  hook  being 
evident,  but  there  are  few  prettier  or  more  effective 
iron  players — a  marked  characteristic  of  all  Hoylake 
golfers. 

When,  Mr.  W.  J.  Travis  came  over  from  America 
and  carried  off  the  amateur  championship  at  Sandwich, 
he  was  distinctly  lucky  in  finding  that  course  in  a 
state  very  nearly  resembling  an  inland  links,  since  it 
naturally  suited  a  player  who  had  learnt  and  played 
most  of  his  golf  over  courses  of  this  description.  Still, 
such  a  good  player  would  very  likely  have  adapted 
himself  to  other  conditions,  and  there  can  be  no  two 
opinions  about  his  putting,  which  was  marvellous. 

America  sent  us  another  very  fine  player  in  1911, 
Mr.  Evans  to  wit.  A  long  driver,  and  a  very  finished 
iron  player,  he  has  only  to  master  a  tendency  to 
miss  short  putts  to  attain  the  highest  honours.  In 
addition  to  his  brilliant  play,  he  displayed  a  true 
sporting  spirit,  and  made  many  friends  during  his  short 
visit  to  this  country.  As  he  is  only  twenty  years  of 
age,  he  should  have  a  brilliant  future  before  him. 


256  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

Mr.  Abe  Mitchell  aroused  great  interest  at  Hoylake 
in  1910,  and  sealed  his  reputation  at  Westward  Ho  ! 
two  years  later,  playing  Mr.  John  Ball  to  the  thirty- 
eighth  hole  in  the  final — the  furthest  to  which  it  has 
ever  run.  One  of  many  brothers,  who  are  all  good 
players,  he  learnt  his  golf  at  Ashdown  Forest,  where, 
I  believe,  the  Cantelupe  Club  is  practically  composed 
of  the  Mitchell  family.  He  stands  well  up  to  the  ball, 
and  hits  it  a  terrific  distance  with  an  unusually  high 
trajectory.  His  iron  play  is  a  trifle  crude  at  present, 
but  he  putts  well,  and  with  more  experience  should 
become  a  great  player.  Like  J.  H.  Taylor  he  can 
apparently  afford  to  dispense  with  the  orthodox 
follow-through.  He  seems  to  stop  his  hands  imme- 
diately after  the  club  meets  the  ball,  and  in  this  respect 
is  the  very  opposite  to  Mr.  F.  Woolley.  When  these 
two  players  met  in  the  championship  at  Hoylake,  it 
was  very  interesting  to  compare  their  respective 
methods,  which  produced  such  similar  results.  Mr. 
Woolley  has  the  shortest  back  swing  of  any  first-class 
player,  but  makes  up  for  its  brevity  by  an  unusually 
long  and  vigorous  follow-through.  His  swing  always 
reminds  me  of  Mr.  B.  J.  T.  Bosanquet's  drive  at 
cricket.  In  spite  of  this  idiosyncrasy,  he  drives  a  very 
long  straight  ball,  especially  against  a  head  wind. 

His  chief  rival  in  the  Midlands,  Mr.  F.  Carr,  has  a 
much  more  orthodox  style,  and  created  a  very 
favourable  impression  at  Hoylake  in  1910,  and  at 
Prestwick  the  following  year,  when  he  defeated  Mr. 
Gordon  Simpson  in  the  international  match  after 
losing  five  out  of  the  first  six  holes. 


MEN  OF  GENIUS  257 

Mr.  Palmer,  the  third  representative  of  the  Midlands 
school  of  golf,  is  a  striking  example  of  a  strong 
athletic  man  taking  up  golf  late  in  life  with  marked 
success.  That  he  is  a  splendid  match  player  he 
clearly  demonstrated  at  St.  Andrews  in  1907,  when 
he  reached  the  final  of  the  championship.  He  plays 
with  a  half-swing  and  hits  the  ball  a  very  shrewd 
punch,  but  he  owes  most  of  his  success  to  his  putting, 
which  is  uniformly  excellent.  He  has  apparently  a 
firm  belief  in  keeping  the  left  elbow  well  out,  and 
trusting  entirely  to  the  wrists. 

If  successful  score  play  demands  special  attributes, 
Mr.  E.  Harris  must  surely  possess  them  in  toto,  as  he 
not  only  wins  a  great  number  of  competitions,  but  he 
is  invariably  second  or  third  on  the  very  rare  occasions 
when  he  fails  to  win  outright.  Always  a  beautiful 
iron  player,  he  has  latterly  increased  the  length  of  his 
driving  very  considerably.  He  stands  with  his  feet 
very  close  together,  which  peculiarity  he  shares  with 
another  fine  player,  Mr.  Beveridge,  who  appears  to 
win  competitions  at  Deal  in  spite  of  any  penalty  the 
committee  may  impose.  Mr.  Darwin  considers  that 
his  driving  is  rather  shorter  than  it  used  to  be.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  it  is  much  steadier,  both  results  being 
attributable  to  the  same  cause — a  modification  of  the 
tremendous  hook  he  used  to  play  for. 

Mr.  H.  W.  de  Zoete  is  probably  the  greatest  exponent 
of  the  hook  amongst  first-class  players.  He  stands 
with  his  feet  very  wide  apart,  the  right  foot  drawn 
back,  and  the  ball  nearly  opposite  his  left  foot.  He 
has  a  beautiful  wide  swing,  the  hands  being  excep- 

E 


258  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

tionally  high  at  the  top  of  the  swing,  which  may 
account  for  the  tremendous  power  of  recovery,  which 
served  him  so  well  in  his  memorable  match  with  Mr. 
Maxwell  at  Muirfield  in  1903.  It  is  a  great  pity  that 
he  can  so  seldom  take  part  in  the  important  events. 

Mr.  J.  B.  Pease  is  another  example  of  the  square 
stance  and  ball  opposite  left  foot  style.  He  relies 
on  a  pull  for  his  length,  but  is  straighter,  though  not 
quite  as  long,  as  Mr.  de  Zoete,  the  result  probably  of 
the  three-quarter  swing  he  contents  himself  with. 
He  can  always  be  relied  on  to  give  his  opponent  a 
very  hard  run  for  his  money,  as  Mr.  Ball  can  testify, 
when  he  met  him  in  the  last  championship  at  Hoylake. 
He  appears  to  play  nearly  all  his  shots  with  the  same 
stance  and  swing. 

Of  the  younger  generation  there  is  no  more  promis- 
ing player  than  Mr.  L.  0.  Munn,  who  is  indubitably 
the  finest  golfer  that  Ireland  has  yet  produced.  To 
win  the  Irish  championship  three  times  running  is 
a  great  feat,  and  stamps  him  as  possessing  not  only 
the  skill,  but  also  the  temperament  of  a  great  match 
player.  I  should  say  that  Mr.  Munn  is  the  finest 
exponent  of  wooden  club  play  to  be  found  in  the 
amateur  ranks.  He  drives  very  far  and  straight  with 
an  exceptionally  graceful  and  easy  swing,  and  his 
second  shots  are  every  whit  as  good  as  his  tee-shots. 

Mr.  J.  Robertson  Durham  is  a  very  promising  young 
player,  who  also  excels  with  wooden  clubs.  His  carry 
is  prodigious,  but  he  hits  rather  too  high  a  ball 
against  a  head  wind.  His  run  of  success  at  Gullane 
and  Luffness,  where  he  plays  most  of  his  golf,  has  been 


MEN  OF  GENIUS  259 

quite  extraordinary.  His  swing  is  inclined  to  be  of 
the  'headsman*  type,  and  is  not  by  any  means  a 
long  one. 

Mention  of  East  Lothian  courses  brings  to  mind  the 
many  fine  players  who  learnt  or  played  most  of  their 
golf  in  this  '  holy  land  of  golf.'  Twenty  years  ago 
Mr.  A.  M.  Ross's  name  was  one  to  conjure  with.  A 
typically  correct  and  orthodox  player,  he  won 
innumerable  medals  in  the  North  Berwick-Gullane 
district.  His  putting  was  remarkable  as  much  for 
its  deadliness  as  for  the  variety  of  clubs  he  employed, 
varying  from  the  traditional  wooden  weapon  to  a 
long  shafted  driving-mashie,  which  he  held  at  the 
extreme  end. 

Mr.  J.  R.  Gairdner  has  a  splendid  record  at  North 
Berwick.  He  is  a  very  steady,  consistent  player, 
with  a  peculiarly  open  stance,  the  ball  being  nearly 
opposite  the  right  foot. 

The  brothers  Hunter,  too,  learnt  their  golf  at  North 
Berwick,  and  in  addition  to  successes  in  East  Lothian, 
they  have  both  won  the  autumn  medal  of  the  Royal 
and  Ancient  Club,  Mr.  Norman  Hunter's  74  being  still 
the  amateur  record,  though  others  have  succeeded  in 
equalling  it.  They  were  very  conspicuous  in  'Varsity 
golf,  Mr.  Mansfield  Hunter  captaining  probably  the 
strongest  University  team  which  ever  took  the  field. 
He  is  a  very  pretty  player,  especially  good  with  the 
mashie.  His  brother  combines  great  power  with  an 
exceptionally  good  short  game,  and  has  certainly  not 
had  his  fair  share  of  luck  as  yet  in  important  events. 

The  Martin  Smith  brothers  have  also  played  much 


260  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

golf  at  North  Berwick,  and  have  scored  many 
successes  there. 

Mr.  Everard  Martin  Smith  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
exponents  in  the  amateur  ranks.  He  has  twice  equalled 
the  record  score  of  73  in  medal  play  at  North  Berwick, 
on  one  occasion  in  half  a  gale  of  wind,  but  he  capped 
all  previous  performances  by  his  marvellous  score  of 
68  in  the  second  round  of  the  St.  George's  Cup  in  1911. 

Mr.  Martin  Smith  sets  himself  a  very  high  standard. 
He  expects  to  lay  approaches  dead  and  to  hole  long 
putts,  and  was  only  living  up  to  the  tenets  of  his 
creed  on  this  occasion.  He  is  a  very  pretty  player 
with  a  beautiful  wrist  action,  his  only  fault  being  a 
tendency  to  drop  the  right  shoulder  when  he  is  a  little 
off  colour. 

Like  their  cousins  the  Martin  Smiths,  the  Hambro 
family  are  very  famous  in  golf.  Of  all  long  drivers 
Mr.  Angus  Hambro  is  in  my  opinion  the  longest,  and 
it  is  accomplished  with  a  remarkably  easy  swing. 
Although  he  is  very  tall  and  strong,  the  results  which 
he  obtains  from  such  a  quiet  swing,  which  is  certainly 
not  a  long  one,  are  quite  wonderful. 

Mr.  R.  H.  de  Montmorency  is  another  player  who 
accomplishes  wonderful  results  with  an  even  shorter 
swing.  A  hard  hitter  at  cricket  and  racquets,  he 
punches  the  golf-ball  very  far  and  straight,  especially 
with  a  short,  heavy-headed  cleek.  He  finishes  with 
his  hands  well  out  and  away,  though  like  his  back 
swing  the  finish  is  very  much  under  control.  He  is 
an  adept  at  the  so-called  '  push-shot.'  Mr.  Darwin 
fails  to  see  much  similarity  to  the  stroke  as  played 


1 


MEN  OF  GENIUS  261 

by  Vardon,  but  I  think  that  this  may  be  explained  by 
the  fact  that  Mr.  Montmorency  picks  the  club  up 
very  straight,  whereas  Vardon  swings  back  with  a 
flatter  sweep.  It  is  a  great  pity  that  his  duties  at 
Eton  prevent  him  taking  part  in  more  important 
competitions. 

Mr.  Gordon  Lockhart  has  been  well  known  for  years 
as  one  of  the  best  players  in  the  west  of  Scotland, 
but  he  has  hardly  done  himself  justice  in  the 
championship  till  1911,  when  he  reached  the  semi- 
final, and  with  the  exception  of  the  winner,  probably 
played  the  best  golf  of  the  meeting.  He  makes  full 
use  of  his  height  and  strength,  and  is  a  good  iron 
player  and  putter. 

His  frequent  partner,  Mr.  R.  Andrew,  was  also  a 
beautiful  golfer,  with  a  very  finished  style.  He  has 
recently  joined  the  professional  ranks  in  America, 
where  his  many  friends  will  wish  him  all  success. 
Another  prominent  west  of  Scotland  player,  Mr.  A.  R. 
Aitken,  has  not  taken  part  in  the  championships  the 
last  two  years.  His  best  performance  was  reaching 
the  semi-final  in  1905. 

To  survive  many  rounds  of  the  amateur  champion- 
ship, it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  putt  well,  and  Mr. 
C.  C.  Aylmer  certainly  did  not  lose  sight  of  this  fact 
when  he  reached  the  final  at  Hoylake  in  1909.  He  is 
a  very  neat  player,  and  seems  to  have  lengthened  his 
driving  considerably  of  late. 

Mr.  L.  B.  Stevens  leapt  into  sudden  prominence  at 
Prestwick  in  1911  by  reaching  the  semi-final,  and,  but 
for  an  unfortunate  misunderstanding  with  respect 


262  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

to  a  local  rule,  might  have  attained  even  higher 
honours.  He  is  a  powerful  player,  apparently  blessed 
with  a  singularly  cheerful  temperament. 

Mr.  J.  L.  C.  Jenkins  has  played  very  good  golf  for 
years,  but  he  certainly  never  played  better  than  he 
did  in  the  amateur  championship  at  Prestwick  in  1911, 
when  he  eventually  succumbed  to  the  winner.  He  is 
a  beautiful  driver,  and  always  appears  to  be  brimful 
of  confidence — which  after  all  is  half  the  battle. 

As  a  combination  of  brilliance  and  occasional 
uncertainty,  Mr.  V.  A.  Pollock  is  an  outstanding 
example.  When  at  his  best,  and  players  must  surely 
be  judged  by  their  best,  he  is  a  most  dangerous  player. 
He  grips  the  club  with  the  right  hand  very  much 
under,  and  has  an  exceptionally  flat  swing,  taking 
the  club  low  round  the  shoulder  instead  of  over  the 
neck. 

The  Scotts  are  another  great  golfing  family.  Mr. 
Osmond  Scott  has  not  been  so  conspicuous  since  he 
reached  the  final  of  the  championship  at  Prestwick 
in  1905,  but  his  brother  Michael  sustained  a  great 
reputation  made  in  Australia  by  his  fine  play  in  the 
open  competition  at  Troon  just  before  the  amateur 
championship,  and  again  by  reaching  the  final  of  the 
Irish  championship.  He  has  not  quite  got  his 
brother's  beautiful  style,  but  he  is  an  eminently  sound 
and  steady  player. 

Mr.  Sidney  Fry  is  a  striking  example  of  a  man  who 
is  pre-eminently  good  at  one  game,  taking  up  golf 
comparatively  late  in  life  with  very  marked  success. 
There  seems  to  be  some  affinity  between  billiards  and 


MEN  OF  GENIUS  263 

golf.  Mr.  Herbert  Fowler  is  another  fine  exponent 
of  both  games,  and  as  a  golfing  architect  is  second  to 
none.  Walton  Heath  is  a  striking  testimony  of  his 
constructive  genius. 

Mr.  H.  S.  Colt  is  also  a  fine  golfing  architect,  and  is 
a  fine  steady  player  too,  with  an  extraordinary  style 
of  putting,  so  well  described  by  Mr.  Darwin  in  his 
remarks  on  that  trying  department  of  the  game. 

Mr.  H.  E.  Taylor  is  a  finalist  in  the  amateur 
championship,  and  a  most  consistent  medal  winner. 
He  has  a  fine  free  style,  and  knows  the  game 
thoroughly.  He  is  also  a  great  judge  of  a  club,  and 
must  have  the  largest  private  collection  in  the  world. 

Space  forbids  me  mentioning  many  another  fine 
player,  such  as  Mr.  Gillies,  who  is  as  successful  a 
golfer  as  he  was  an  oar,  Mr.  Frank  Mitchell,  a  great 
exponent  of  spoon  play  and  a  marvellous  putter, 
Mr.  Worthington,  an  ex-Irish  champion,  the  brothers 
Fairlie,  Mr.  Douglas  Currie,  Mr.  Gordon  Simpson, 
Mr.  A.  C.  Lincoln,  and  the  brothers  Ellis,  both 
beautiful  players,  but  so  seldom  seen  of  late.  But 
this  list  is  certainly  not  complete  without  the  name  of 
Mr.  Bernard  Darwin,  who  not  only  represented  England 
for  so  many  years  in  the  international  match,  but 
succeeded  in  reaching  the  ante-final  of  the  amateur 
championship  at  Muirfield  in  1909,  only  to  succumb  to 
the  ultimate  winner  after  a  hard  fight.  As  might  be 
expected  from  one  who  has  obviously  such  profound 
technical  knowledge  of  the  game,  he  is  a  very  finished 
golfer.  I  am  certain  that  much  may  be  learnt  from 
an  intelligent  study  of  the  methods  adopted  by  the 


264  THE  NEW  BOOK  OF  GOLF 

leading  players,  especially  by  the  young  golfer  who  has 
already  attained  some  measure  of  skill,  and  is  really 
desirous  of  improvement.  The  value  of  natural 
gifts  of  eye  and  muscle  is  enormously  increased  by  the 
acquisition  of  a  sound  knowledge  of  the  game. 


NOTE  BY  THE  EDITOR 

IF  only  Captain  Hutchison  would  have  ventured  on  a 
word  of  autobiography,  as  his  own  appraiser,  how 
much  more  pleasant  and  interesting  it  would  be — 
perhaps,  however,  too  much  to  ask  of  him.  He  was, 
as  indicated,  the  hero  and  the  victim  of  those  two 
great  strokes  of  Mr.  Maxwell  which  won  the  latter 
the  amateur  championship  and  lost  it  to  Captain 
Hutchison,  who  was  one  up  with  two  to  play — finished 
without  fault  and  yet  was  beaten.  Perhaps  this  was 
the  highest  mark  he  ever  touched,  yet  a  year  or  so 
previously  it  seemed  impossible  for  Captain  Hutchison  to 
go  in  for  any  scoring  competition  without  winning  it. 
He  is  a  fine  cricketer  and  all-round  athlete — especially 
a  fine  gymnast.  I  know  no  man  who  gets  power  into  his 
stroke  so  easily  with  so  smooth  a  swing.  He  makes  the 
game  look  very  easy,  because  each  stroke  seems  done 
without  effort — he  almost  seems  to  make  it  look  too  easy 
to  be  interesting ;  it  is  a  triumph  of  the  art  that  conceals 
art — it  looks  as  if  it  were  almost  impossible  for  him  to 
miss  a  shot  or  even  mishit  the  ball,  and,  in  point  of  fact, 
he  hardly  ever  does.  That  sums  him,  the  blameless 
player  to  whom  mistakes  do  not  happen.  Yet  do  not 
think  that  it  is  not  all  the  result  of  painful  study.  These 
triumphs  of  apparent  ease  are  won  only  by  long  labours 
of  love. 


PART  IV 

FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

BY  MRS.  Koss  (nee  Miss  MAY  HEZLET) 


c     etc    c          < 


MISS  RAVENSCROFT 
Open  Lady  Champion,  1912 


[To  face  p.  267 


FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

THE  growth  of  women's  golf  has  been  extraordinary. 
As  a  recent  writer  put  it,  'Even  twenty  years  ago  a 
woman  walking  in  a  London  street,  attired  in  short 
tweed  coat  and  skirt,  thick  boots  and  carrying  her 
bag  of  clubs,  attracted  much  undesirable  attention  ; 
but  nowadays  a  whole  team  could  walk  down  Bond 
Street  or  Regent  Street,  and  no  notice  would  be  taken.' 
The  fact  that  four  hundred  and  nine  women's  clubs 
are  affiliated  to  that  flourishing  institution,  the 
Ladies'  Golf  Union,  is  a  wonderful  testimony  to  the 
extent  to  which  the  game  has  been  taken  up  by 
women.  There  have  long  been  periodicals  which  set 
apart  a  considerable  portion  of  their  space  for  reports 
and  discussions  of  women's  golf.  Recently  a  monthly 
magazine  has  been  started  which  is  to  be  devoted 
entirely  to  this  subject.  And  the  enthusiasm  has 
not  been  confined  to  the  women  of  the  British  Isles. 
Players  from  Australia,  America,  South  Africa,  Canada 
and  British  Columbia  have  entered  for  the  open 
championship  meetings.  In  France,  Germany,  Swit- 
zerland and  Italy  a  great  many  women  are  now 
golfing,  and  the  roll  of  players  is  increasing  year  by 
year.  That  golfing  terms  are  still  a  mystery  to  some 
members  of  our  sex  appears  from  the  following  con- 

267 


268    FROM  THE  LADIES*  POINT  OF  VIEW 

versation  overheard  at  a  recent  championship  meeting  : 
First  Girl :  '  Who  is  the  man  that  walks  round  with 
the  players  ? '  Second  Girl :  '  That  man  ?  Oh,  he  is 
the  stymie.'  But  the  game  is  rapidly  becoming  so 
widely  familiar  as  to  make  such  instances  of  refreshing 
innocence  very  rare. 

We  can  claim  for  golf  that  of  all  games  it  is  the  most 
suitable  for  women  ;  that  it  is  beneficial  both  to  mind 
and  body  ;  and  that  it  provides  interest  and  amuse- 
ment for  countless  women  who  would  otherwise  be 
leading  bored  and  monotonous  existences.  It  will  be 
seen,  then,  that  the  presentation  of  the  woman's  point 
of  view  in  a  book  on  golf  needs  no  apology.  Some 
of  the  principles  of  the  game  are  here  set  forth  in 
their  special  application  to  women's  play.  Practical 
experience  is  worth  infinitely  more  than  theoretical 
knowledge,  but  there  are  times  when  such  hints  as 
may  be  gathered  from  books  can  be  very  helpful. 
And  so  we  trust  that  those  who  read  these  pages  may 
glean  some  information  which  may  help  them  in  their 
struggle  to  learn  the  finest  game  in  the  world. 


CHAPTER  I 
DRIVING 

IN  no  department  of  women's  golf  has  there  been 
more  progress  of  late  years  than  in  the  length  of 
distance  attained  with  wooden  clubs.  In  iron  play 
there  is  still  much  improvement  to  be  desired,  on  the 
greens  very  little  change  has  been  noticeable,  but  from 
the  tee  the  difference  between  the  long  player  of 
to-day  and  the  long  player  of  ten  years  ago  is  very 
marked.  And,  indeed,  the  difference  is  not  confined 
to  the  exceptionally  long  players.  The  average  woman 
golfer  of  the  present  is  a  vastly  superior  driver  to  her 
sister  of  the  past.  The  introduction  of  rubber-cored 
balls  has  probably  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the 
matter,  the  improved  physique  of  the  modern  athletic 
girl  may  be  in  part  responsible,  but  the  change  is 
mainly  due  to  the  increased  facilities  women  possess 
for  playing  on  long  links. 

To  be  able  to  drive  well  is  usually  the  first  ambition 
of  every  beginner.  The  novice  regards  putting  as  a 
very  simple  matter.  The  feat  of  sending  the  ball 
flying  through  the  air  is  much  more  attractive  to  her 
than  rolling  it  along  the  ground  into  the  hole.  The 
progress  of  a  golfer  can  be  judged  by  a  kind  of  inverse 
ratio  in  this  respect.  While  driving  is  thought  to  be 

269 


270    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

everything  and  putting  nothing,  the  beginner  is  in  a 
very  raw  condition ;  when  she  realises  that  it  is 
necessary  to  pay  even  more  attention  to  her  short 
game  than  to  her  tee-shots,  she  may  be  said  to  be 
beginning  to  understand  the  science  of  golf.  For 
driving  is  the  easiest  part  of  the  game,  and  putting 
far  the  hardest. 

There  are  two  ways  in  which  a  beginner  can  learn 
golf.  One  is  to  put  herself  into  the  hands  of  a  good 
professional  and  to  work  away  under  his  tuition  until 
some  proficiency  has  been  attained.  The  other  is 
to  fight  the  matter  out  by  herself,  by  dint  of 
strenuous  practice,  the  reading  of  books,  and  the 
cultivation  of  an  observant  eye.  The  latter  course 
may  lead  to  success,  but  it  is  the  more  difficult  of  the 
two.  Those  who  can  obtain  even  a  few  good  lessons 
to  form  a  basis  for  after  practice,  will  find  that  there 
are  great  advantages  in  doing  so,  and  it  will  mean  a 
considerable  shortening  of  the  period  of  drudgery 
through  which  all  beginners  must  pass.  The  ideal 
way  in  which  to  learn  golf  is  to  commence  the  game 
at  such  an  early  age  that  the  swing  is  picked  up 
naturally  and  with  very  little  effort.  Children's 
muscles  and  joints  are  so  supple  that  they  instinctively 
adopt  graceful  attitudes  and  movements.  But  for 
those  who  are  not  familiar  with  the  links  from  child- 
hood, the  only  road  to  success  is  by  sheer  hard  work, 
and  the  expenditure  of  much  patience  and  perseverance. 

The  first  thing  for  the  beginner  to  do  is  to  get  clubs. 
Here  at  once  a  problem  presents  itself.  How  many 
clubs  are  necessary,  and  of  what  nature  should  they 


DRIVING  271 

be  ?  The  answer  to  this  question  is  very  largely  a 
matter  of  £  s.  d.  The  girl  who  is  not  obliged  to 
consider  expense  will  start  off  happily  with  a  bag  full 
of  weapons ;  her  impecunious  sister  will  content 
herself  with  a  few.  The  latter  has  really  the  best  of 
it.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  begin  with  too  many 
clubs.  It  only  multiplies  difficulties.  Each  club 
requires  a  different  method  of  play,  therefore  the 
larger  the  number  of  clubs  used,  the  more  complicated 
are  the  instructions  which  have  to  be  assimilated  by 
the  reeling  brain  of  the  beginner.  The  result  is  likely 
to  be  hopeless  bewilderment.  The  average  golfer 
possesses  driver,  brassey,  spoon  or  cleek,  iron,  mashie, 
niblick,  and  putter.  Of  these  the  three  essential  for 
a  beginner  are  driver,  iron,  and  putter ;  the  rest  can 
be  added  gradually.  These  three  clubs  are  normally 
always  in  use.  The  game  may  be  said  to  be  founded 
upon  them,  almost  as  the  diapason  stops  are  the 
groundwork  of  organ  playing. 

It  is  always  desirable  that  the  player  should  feel 
confidence  in  her  clubs ;  therefore  she  should  select 
them  in  accordance  with  her  own  individual  taste. 
Such  quantities  of  good  clubs  of  all  descriptions  are 
poured  upon  the  market  nowadays  that  every  one 
can  find  what  suits  her.  In  a  driver  the  chief  thing  to 
aim  at  is  good  balance.  For  a  beginner  the  face  should 
be  laid  back  a  little,  and  the  shaft  should  not  be 
whippy,  a  whippy  club  being  much  more  difficult  to 
control.  It  is  wiser  to  avoid  all  exaggerations  of 
length,  weight,  or  shape.  The  average  club  is  the 
best  for  the  average  novice,  and  it  is  time  enough  to 


272    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

indulge  in  eccentricities  and  fancies  when  proficiency 
is  attained. 

A  golf  stroke  may  be  divided  into  three  principal 
component  parts,  viz.  swing,  grip,  stance.  Theorists 
can  argue  about  a  host  of  minor  distinctions,  but  for 
our  present  purpose  it  is  better  to  stick  to  these 
three  divisions.  There  is  a  diversity  of  opinion 
among  authorities  as  to  whether  the  grip  and  stance 
should  be  taught  before  the  swing  is  attempted,  or 
whether  the  first  effort  should  be  to  attain  some  sort 
of  swing,  leaving  the  grip  and  stance  to  be  adjusted 
afterwards.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  grip 
should  be  attended  to  first,  then  the  swing,  and  lastly 
the  stance.  The  stance  is  the  easiest  problem  of  the 
three  to  tackle,  and  may  quite  well  be  postponed. 
The  grip  is  bound  to  affect  the  swing,  and  if  the 
motions  of  the  swing  be  learned  with  a  wrong  grip, 
they  will  have  to  be  learned  all  over  again  when  the 
grip  has  at  length  been  corrected,  with  the  result  of 
disheartening  the  beginner  not  a  little. 

The  overlapping  grip  has  come  very  much  into 
prominence  of  late  years.  I  have  never  tried  it,  and 
therefore  do  not  feel  justified  in  criticising  its  merits 
or  demerits.  A  great  many  people  use  it  and  swear 
by  it.  The  principle  is  that  the  little  finger  of  the 
right  hand  is  placed  on  the  top  of  the  first  finger  of 
the  left  hand,  with  the  object  of  making  the  two 
hands  as  nearly  one  as  possible,  and  preventing  the 
right  hand  doing  more  than  its  proper  share  of  the 
work.  Miss  Cecil  Leitch  expresses  the  opinion  that 
few  ladies  are  strong  enough  in  the  wrists  to  use  this 


DRIVING  273 

grip  through  the  green,  although  they  may  easily  do 
so  on  the  putting-green.  She  does  not  use  it  herself, 
nor  do  many  of  the  leading  women  golfers.  Mr. 
Darwin  advocates  the  '  go-as-you-please  '  grip  with 
three  provisoes.  These  three  are  : 

1.  That  the  hands  should  be  held  as  near  together 

as  possible. 

2.  That  the  knuckles  of  the  left  hand  should  be 

turned  perceptibly  upward,  though  not  to  an 
extent  that  will  cramp  the  player. 

3.  That  the  handle  of  the  club  shall  not  be  too 

deeply  embedded  in  the  palm  of  the  right  hand, 
nor  held  with  that  hand  in  too  cast-iron  a  grip. 
The  left  thumb  may  do  what  it  pleases,  but 
the  right  thumb  will  be  better  round  the  handle 
of  the  club  than  straight  along  it. 

With  the  first  two  I  fully  concur,  but  from  the 
last,  with  all  due  deference,  I  differ  slightly.  I  would 
encourage  my  beginner  to  grip  firmly  and  evenly  with 
both  hands,  and  I  would  have  her  keep  both  her 
thumbs  down  the  shaft,  not  round  it.  This  may  be 
merely  a  personal  preference  on  my  part,  as  I  began 
golf  in  that  way  myself,  but  I  do  think  that  a  great 
deal  more  control  can  be  obtained  over  the  club  with 
the  thumbs  down,  and  it  is  certainly  easier  to  drive 
straight  with  them  down  than  round.  A  little  length 
may  be  lost,  but  in  the  first  stages  of  golf  length  is 
not  the  most  important  consideration.  When  grow- 
ing power  demands  every  facility  of  outlet,  the  change 
of  the  position  of  the  thumbs  from  down  the  shaft 


274    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

to  round  it  can  be  effected  with  very  little  trouble. 
The  hands  should  be  held  so  closely  together  that  the 
middle  joint  of  the  first  finger  of  the  left  hand  should 
rest  in  the  angle  where  the  little  finger  of  the  right 
hand  joins  the  palm. 

The  second  of  Mr.  Darwin's  provisoes  is  a  very 
important  one.  The  beginner  is  very  apt  to  grasp 
the  club  in  the  fashion  which  comes  most  naturally, 
namely,  with  the  left-hand  knuckles  right  under  the 
shaft.  It  is,  however,  impossible  to  swing  correctly 
with  this  grip,  and  the  upward  turn  of  the  left  knuckles 
is  one  of  the  chief  features  of  a  correct  grip.  One  other 
remark — that  it  will  probably  make  matters  easier  not 
to  grasp  the  club  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  handle — 
and  then  we  come  to  the  swing. 

Of  swings  there  are  an  endless  variety.  Neverthe- 
less, in  the  essentials  there  are  points  of  resemblance 
between  them  all.  For  instance,  with  nearly  all 
good  players  the  ball  is  swept  away  with  the  impact 
of  the  face  of  the  club,  rather  than  hit  away.  Then 
the  pace  with  which  the  backward  swing  is  taken  is 
always  appreciably  less  than  that  with  which  the 
down  swing  is  brought  forward.  The  latter  is  gradually 
accelerated  as  the  club  nears  the  ball.  In  connection 
with  this  the  question  of  correct  timing  comes  in, 
but  we  will  return  to  that  subject  later  on.  Thirdly, 
the  head  is  kept  still,  while  the  body  turns  on  its  axis, 
the  axis,  roughly  speaking,  being  the  player's  waist 
line.  It  is  very  necessary  that  these  points  should  be 
borne  in  mind,  as  they  form  the  basis  of  all  good  golf. 
In  addition  the  beginner  must  remember,  that  in  the 


GRIP  FOR  DRIVING:  THUMBS  ROUND       WRONG  GRIP:  AS  SOMETIMES  USED 

BY  BEGINNERS 


GRIP  WITH  THUMBS  DOWN 


BACK  VIEW  OF  GRIP  :  SHOWING  HOW 
CLOSE  HANDS  SHOULD  BE  TOGETHER 


[To  face  p.  274 


DRIVING  275 

process  of  the  up  swing  the  face  of  the  club  should 
be  gradually  turned  away  from  the  ball.  How  and 
why  this  should  be  done  is  very  minutely  and 
carefully  explained  in  the  chapter  on  *  The  Principles 
of  the  Swing  '  by  Mr.  Darwin.  It  will  be  found  that 
the  turning  away  of  the  face  of  the  club  will  necessitate 
the  turning  away  of  the  hands  and  wrists.  There 
should  be  nothing  rigid  about  the  swing,  nothing 
cramped,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  club  should 
never  be  allowed  to  get  out  of  control.  Overswinging 
is  a  fault  to  which  women  are  particularly  prone. 
Among  the  common  phenomena  of  the  links  are 
players  whose  swings  are  so  exaggerated  that  they 
look  almost  like  acrobats  in  a  circus.  The  club  head 
seems  to  be  trying  its  utmost  to  reach  the  ground 
behind  their  backs.  The  marvel  is  how  they  ever 
get  it  to  come  up  again.  The  result  of  this  is  that 
all  energy  is  spent  by  the  time  the  head  draws  near 
to  the  ball.  Instead  of  being  able  to  put  on  extra 
speed  for  the  last  few  inches,  as  should  be  done,  the 
player  merely  flops  against  the  ball,  and  then  is 
surprised  because  it  does  not  travel  any  considerable 
distance. 

The  swing  should  be  practised  incessantly.  The 
general  opinion  seems  to  be  that  at  first  the  player 
should  not  be  allowed  to  swing  at  a  ball.  A  blade  of 
grass  or  a  daisy  serves  the  purpose  equally  well,  in 
fact  better,  as  it  is  more  important  to  get  the  motions 
of  the  swing  correct  than  to  find  out  how  far  the 
player  can  hit  the  ball.  Swing  first  with  the  left 
hand  in  the  style  recommended  in  the  earlier  chapters 


276    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

of  this  book,  afterwards  with  both  hands.  But  swing, 
swing,  and  swing  again  until  the  movement  becomes 
an  absolutely  natural  one.  The  arms  should  not  be 
kept  too  close  in  to  the  body,  but  neither  should  they 
be  let  fly  too  far  out.  A  happy  medium  may  be 
cultivated  by  allowing  the  left  elbow  to  brush  lightly 
against  the  chest  as  the  club  goes  up.  The  head  must 
be  kept  rigidly  still,  and  the  eye  fixed  on  the  back  of 
the  ball.  The  recent  attempt  of  Toogood  to  prove 
this  latter  rule  unnecessary  has  ended  in  a  dismal 
fiasco,  and  the  doctrine  will  be  more  firmly  established 
in  the  future  than  ever. 

The  course  of  the  down  swing  is  precisely  that  of 
the  up  swing  in  a  reverse  direction.  It  is  a  well- 
established  golfing  theory  that  a  correct  up  swing 
will  produce  a  correct  down  swing.  The  chief  point 
to  emphasise  is  that  the  down  swing  must  not  be 
forced ;  it  should  follow  in  a  natural  sequence  from 
the  up  swing.  Above  all,  the  player  must  not  try 
to  help  it  forward  by  putting  her  body  into  the 
stroke ;  she  must  just  let  the  arms  come  down  and 
through  instinctively  and  naturally.  The  crucial 
point  of  the  swing  is  the  added  impetus  given  to  the 
club  immediately  before  it  comes  into  contact  with 
the  ball.  Here  comes  in  what  is  known  in  golfing 
language  as  correct  timing.  Miss  Leitch  states  that 
this  spurt,  as  she  calls  it,  should  commence  when  the 
club  is  about  eighteen  inches  from  the  ball.  It  is 
difficult  to  dogmatise  about  the  exact  distance,  and 
only  experience  will  teach  the  player  to  know  in- 
stinctively when  to  apply  the  extra  force.  The  spurt 


MEDIUM  STANCE  FOR  DRIVE 
MRS.   ROHH 


[To  face  p.  277 


DRIVING  277 

must  not  be  added  in  such  a  laboured  fashion  as  to 
cause  a  recognisable  jerk  or  jump  at  the  ball.  The 
smoothness  of  the  swing  is  of  tremendous  importance. 
After  the  ball  is  hit  the  arms  must  follow  on  in  the 
direction  of  its  flight,  but  again  we  must  repeat  the 
caution,  that  the  movement  must  be  the  natural 
outcome  of  the  swing — not  a  forced  push. 

We  now  come  to  the  question  of  stance.  There  are 
three  main  stances,  the  open,  the  square,  and  the  one 
wherein  the  right  foot  is  withdrawn  behind  the  left. 
The  open  stance  means  that  the  right  foot  is  advanced 
and  the  left  drawn  back.  With  the  square  stance  the 
feet  are  practically  on  a  level.  The  arguments  for 
and  against  the  first  and  third  stances  are  briefly  as 
follows  : — The  open  stance  enables  the  player  to  gain 
great  control  over  the  club,  and  to  follow  through 
with  very  little  effort.  She  is  also  better  able  to  see 
where  she  is  going,  and  so  is  enabled  to  take  straighter 
aim.  On  the  other  hand,  it  undoubtedly  encourages 
any  tendency  to  swing  too  vertically.  It  also  necessi- 
tates a  more  forcible  turn  of  the  body  to  get  the 
proper  position  at  the  top  of  the  swing.  The  third 
kind  of  stance  is  held  to  have  the  advantage  of 
helping  the  player  to  take  the  club  well  out  away  from 
the  body,  and  so  encouraging  a  larger,  flatter  sweep  of 
the  club.  But  it  must  be  admitted  that  this  theory 
is  not  so  popular  as  it  formerly  was.  It  is  also  true 
that  this  stance  produces  a  tendency  to  stoop,  from 
the  endeavour  to  reach  out  over  the  left  foot,  and 
that  it  increases  the  difficulty  of  aiming  straightly. 

If  the  player  has  no  very  decided  preference,  it  will 


278     FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

probably  be  better  for  her  to  adopt  the  square  stance, 
but  if  she  has  any  strong  inclination  towards  either  of 
the  other  two,  there  is  no  valid  reason  why  she  should 
not  take  her  own  way.  If  the  open  stance  be  adopted, 
care  should  be  taken  not  to  exaggerate  it,  as,  even  if 
by  so  doing  extra  length  is  obtained,  certainty  will  be 
lost,  and  a  tendency  to  slice  will  very  probably  be 
developed.  With  the  square  stance  the  ball  usually 
lies  about  halfway  between  the  feet,  but  the  further 
forward  it  can  be  brought  towards  the  left  foot, 
with  comfort,  the  better,  as  this  mitigates  the  chances 
of  the  player  getting  her  hands  too  far  in  front  of  the 
ball.  With  the  third  kind  of  stance  the  ball  can  be 
either  in  a  central  position  or  closer  to  the  left  foot. 

There  is  much  to  be  learned  from  studying  the 
styles  of  the  prominent  golfers  of  the  day,  an 
advantage  from  which  those  are  not  wholly  debarred 
who  have  not  the  opportunity  of  seeing  these  players 
on  the  links.  Characteristics  of  style  may  be  noted 
from  the  photographs,  of  which  such  numbers  are 
being  constantly  published ;  but  for  this  purpose 
the  photographs  should  be  snapshots  taken  during 
actual  play.  Posed  photographs  are  unsatisfactory, 
as  they  usually  present  the  players  in  a  somewhat 
constrained  and  unnatural  attitude,  and  are  not  trust- 
worthy representations  of  their  style.  The  following 
notes  are  drawn  from  memory,  supplemented  by  a 
collection  of  photographs. 

Miss  G.  Ravenscroft,  the  Champion  of  1912,  has 
rather  an  original  style.  Her  driving  swing  is  upright, 
and  although  she  hits  hard  there  is  no  appearance 


DRIVING  279 

of  forcing.  Her  iron  shots  are  played  in  the  push 
fashion,  that  is  with  no  follow- through.  The  club 
head  seems  to  dig  into  the  ground,  and  the  ball  flies 
away  low  and  straight.  Her  putting  style  is  quite 
unique.  She  walks  up  to  her  ball  and  plants  her 
right  foot  down  beside  it,  almost  as  if  she  had 
measured  a  specified  distance  with  her  eye,  the  left 
foot  is  then  swung  round  in  a  half -circle,  and  the  ball 
is  played  from  abreast  her  right  heel.  The  right  knee 
is  kept  bent  and  turned  inwards.  The  club  is  held 
fairly  low  down  the  leather. 

Miss  Dorothy  Campbell,  the  Open  Champion  of  1911, 
has  a  short,  rather  straight  up  and  down  swing.  She 
stands  fairly  square,  with  the  ball  nearer  her  right 
foot  than  her  left.  She  has  a  very  steady  stance, 
and  is  one  of  the  very  few  players  who  do  not  turn 
on  their  right  toe  in  following  through.  In  her 
follow-through  her  arms  go  straight  out  and  her  right 
elbow  is  very  little  bent.  She  does  not  appear  to  put 
very  much  force  into  her  balls,  but  her  timing  is  very 
accurate,  and  her  wrists  come  greatly  into  play  at  the 
moment  when  she  is  hitting  the  ball. 

Miss  Violet  Hezlet,  silver  medallist  in  the  1911 
open  championship,  has  a  flatter  swing  than  Miss 
Campbell.  She  has  shortened  it  very  much  of  late 
years,  but  to  compensate  for  this  she  has  a  very  full 
follow-through,  so  full,  in  fact,  that  in  one  of  the 
photographs  she  appears  to  be  poised  on  the  tip  of 
her  right  toe  and  the  heel  of  her  left  foot. 

Miss  E.  Grant-Suttie,  the  Scottish  champion  of 
1911,  is  very  typical  of  the  North  Berwick  school. 


280    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

She  has  a  short  swing,  and  in  taking  back  her  club  her 
left  arm  is  almost  straight  and  her  right  elbow  very 
much  bent,  while  the  nose  of  her  club  points  to  the 
ground  in  the  fashion  upon  which  Mr.  Darwin  lays  so 
much  stress.  Her  follow-through  is  restrained — her 
arms  go  straight  out  and  they  are  very  little  bent. 

Miss  Mabel  Harrison,  the  Irish  champion  of  the 
same  year,  has  a  very  full  swing  and  a  full  follow- 
through  down  the  back  of  her  neck.  She  uses  the 
open  stance  with  her  feet  rather  close  together,  and 
plays  off  her  right  foot. 

Miss  Cecil  Leitch  possesses  a  flat  swing,  that  is  to 
say,  she  takes  the  club  back  round  her  shoulder  rather 
than  round  her  neck.  Her  follow-through  is  full, 
the  club  going  right  back  over  her  shoulder,  with  the 
nose  pointing  to  the  ground,  but  she  keeps  her  hands 
low  and  her  right  elbow  is  very  little  bent.  Her  body 
is  turned  considerably  round  from  above  the  waist, 
and  she  rises  on  her  right  toe  while  the  left  foot 
is  firmly  rooted  to  the  ground.  Miss  Leitch  has  a 
singularly  loose  free  style. 

Miss  Doris  Chambers  has  only  a  three-quarter  swing, 
but  a  very  full  follow-through.  She  plays  with 
rather  short  clubs. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  see  what  deductions  we 
can  make  from  the  styles  of  these  few  among  the  many 
leading  players,  as  we  have  described  them.  Of  the 
seven  players  referred  to  four  are  average  long 
drivers,  three  are  exceptionally  long  drivers.  Miss 
Dorothy  Campbell  and  Miss  Grant-Suttie,  who  may 
be  classed  among  the  average  drivers,  are  renowned 


DRIVING  281 

for  their  steadiness.  Miss  Cecil  Leitch,  Miss  Ravens- 
croft,  and  Miss  Doris  Chambers  rank  as  exceptionally 
long  hitters,  but  they  are  at  times  very  erratic.  Mise 
Campbell  and  Miss  Grant-Suttie  both  possess  some- 
what restrained  swings,  while  the  other  three  are 
exponents  of  a  very  loose  style.  Miss  Campbell, 
Miss  Harrison,  and  Miss  Grant-Suttie  are  of  average 
physique.  Miss  Violet  Hezlet  is  very  slightly  built. 
Miss  Leitch,  Miss  Ravenscroft,  and  Miss  Chambers 
are  all  of  powerful  physique. 

Now,  five  of  these  players  follow  through  very 
fully.  Miss  Grant-Suttie  and  Miss  Dorothy  Campbell 
do  not  follow  through  quite  so  fully,  still  they  do  so 
sufficiently  to  uphold  the  rule  that  a  good  follow- 
through  is  essential  to  good  golf.  The  three  most 
powerful  drivers  of  the  seven  are  Miss  Chambers, 
Miss  Leitch,  and  Miss  Ravenscroft ;  therefore  we  make 
the  deduction  that  the  looser  the  swing  and  the  more 
strength  there  is  behind  it,  the  greater  the  distance 
the  ball  can  be  driven.  But  when  we  come  to  a 
comparison  of  the  steadiness  of  the  seven  players, 
we  have  to  admit  that  in  this  Miss  Campbell  and  Miss 
Grant-Suttie  easily  head  the  list.  Therefore  it  seems 
evident  that  abnormal  length  and  steadiness  do  not, 
as  a  rule,  go  together.  One  must  be  sacrificed  to  the 
other.  The  short  swing  is  easier  to  control  and  guide  ; 
the  very  free  swing  has  a  tendency  to  get,  as  it  were, 
out  of  hand.  The  effects  of  a  slight  fault  are  more 
likely  to  be  accentuated  in  a  very  loose  swing,  and 
that  is  why,  with  a  player  of  this  class,  when  things 
do  go  wrong  they  go  very  wrong  indeed. 


282    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

Now  there  cannot  be  two  opinions  as  to  which  is 
the  more  valuable  quality  for  winning  matches, 
steadiness  or  extreme  length.  It  is  not  the  slightest 
use  to  make  prodigious  drives  at  twelve  holes  out  of 
eighteen  and  miss  the  remaining  six.  Of  course  I  do 
not  mean  to  imply  that  length  is  of  no  importance. 
A  certain  measure  of  length  is  absolutely  necessary 
for  any  one  who  wants  to  gain  high  honours.  But 
my  point  is  that  the  straining  after  length  to  the 
sacrifice  of  everything  else  is  a  mistake,  and  that  the 
violent  effort  to  swing  to  the  utmost  possible  stretch 
backwards  and  forwards,  in  the  hope  of  gaining  every 
possible  extra  inch,  is  not  worth  while.  It  only  leads 
to  disappointment  and  disaster.  There  are  times 
when  the  golfer  can  take  liberties  with  her  swing  and 
put  more  into  it  than  at  other  times.  When  she  is  in 
thoroughly  good  practice  and  playing  up  to  the  top 
of  her  game,  she  can  let  herself  go  in  a  way  which 
would  be  absolutely  fatal  on  ordinary  occasions. 
But  it  is  rarely  that  these  happy  moments  come, 
and  the  player  must  be  very  sure  of  herself  before  she 
counts  upon  them.  She  may  bear  in  mind,  as  a 
warning,  the  fate  of  the  fair  lady  who  wanted  so  much 
to  win  the  driving  competition  at  one  of  the  open 
championship  meetings,  that  she  swung  with  such 
tremendous  energy  and  abandon  that  after  hitting  the 
ball  she  completely  overbalanced  and  fell  flat  on 
the  tee. 


CHAPTER  II 
IRON  PLAY 

THE  second  essential  club  for  a  beginner  to  possess 
is  an  iron.  The  word  iron  embraces  a  multitude  of 
clubs  of  all  shapes  and  sizes,  but  the  particular  iron 
that  we  are  now  about  to  speak  of  is  a  modification  of 
the  old-fashioned  lofter,  a  club  something  between 
cleek  and  mashie.  It  is  a  very  useful  weapon,  as  it 
can  be  used  for  a  great  variety  of  shots.  The  shaft 
of  an  iron  is  usually  shorter  than  that  of  a  driver  or 
brassey.  It  should  be  of  a  fairly  substantial  make, 
as  a  thin  shaft  is  apt  to  snap  when  much  strain  is  put 
upon  it.  The  grip  may  be  thick  or  thin  according 
to  the  player's  fancy,  and,  incidentally,  to  the  size 
of  her  hands.  It  is  advisable  that  the  head  should  be 
of  medium  length,  and  the  face  fairly  well  laid  back. 
With  such  a  club  much  can  be  accomplished.  Full 
shots,  three-quarter  shots,  half-shots,  push-shots  and 
running  approaches  are  all  within  its  compass,  and 
the  player  will  not  be  long  in  realising  its  supreme 
usefulness.  The  iron  is  also  a  trusty,  dependable  club 
to  take  when  the  ball  is  lying  badly  through  the  green, 
or  when  it  is  lying  cleanly  in  sand.  The  superiority  of 
the  stronger  sex  over  the  weaker  sex  in  golf  is  more 
accentuated  in  iron  play  than  in  any  other  depart- 


284     FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

ment  of  the  game.  Of  late  years  women  have  some- 
what raised  their  standard,  and  a  few  of  the  leading 
women  players  of  the  day  can  and  do  make  the  ball 
travel  a  considerable  distance  with  their  iron  clubs. 
But  there  is  still  room  for  a  great  deal  more  improve- 
ment, and  the  average  woman  is  decidedly  weak  in  this 
branch  of  golf.  That  this  should  be  so  is  a  pity,  and 
the  beginner  is  recommended  from  the  first  to  devote 
as  much  consideration  and  time  as  possible  to  the 
mastering  of  her  iron  clubs.  She  will  find  herself 
well  repaid  for  her  hard  work,  as  good  iron  play  is  a 
most  valuable  asset  in  the  game. 

All  authorities  agree  that  the  swing  for  an  iron 
shot  should  be  distinctly  shorter  than  that  used  for 
a  drive  or  a  brassey  shot.  But  there  is  a  great 
diversity  of  opinion  as  to  how  short  it  should  be. 
Some  say  that  a  full  shot  with  an  iron  is  never  per- 
missible, others  hold  quite  a  contrary  view.  Mr. 
Darwin,  after  discussing  this  vexed  question  at  some 
length,  arrives  at  the  conclusion  that  while  a  full 
swing  may  be  used  on  very  rare  occasions,  that  which 
will  commonly  be  most  advantageous  will  be  some- 
thing perhaps  a  little  longer  than  a  three-quarter 
swing.  I  will  not  venture  an  opinion  on  what  is  best 
for  a  man,  but  I  do  think  that  in  women's  play  the 
full  iron  shot  should  have  a  place.  I  do  not  mean 
an  exaggeratedly  full  shot,  but  a  shot  that  is  a  little 
more  controlled  than  that  taken  with  a  wooden  club. 
To  send  the  ball  any  considerable  distance,  a  half -shot 
demands  very  great  strength  of  wrist  and  forearm, 
more  strength  than  most  women  possess.  With  the 


IRON  PLAY  285 

full  iron  length  can  be  obtained  with  a  good  deal  less 
exertion.  The  matter,  however,  is  one  which  depends 
to  some  extent  on  individual  characteristics,  and 
it  can  really  best  be  decided  by  the  player  herself 
when  she  has  made  some  progress  and  is  capable 
of  discrimination.  But  the  beginner  should  certainly 
learn  to  play  both  shots.  There  are  occasions  when 
one  or  other  is  eminently  preferable.  For  instance, 
against  a  strong  head  wind  the  half -shot  is  the  correct 
one  to  play,  as  with  it  the  ball  can  be  kept  low  and 
some  run  obtained.  With  an  uprising  lie,  a  following 
wind,  and  a  high  bunker  or  hill  to  negotiate,  the  full 
iron  shot  is  much  more  suitable.  It  will  be  found  that 
with  a  full  swing  the  ball  can  be  raised  more  suddenly, 
and  from  the  height  of  its  flight  through  the  air  it 
will  derive  every  possible  advantage  from  the  favour- 
able breeze. 

For  a  full  iron  shot  the  club  should  be  gripped  tightly 
with  both  hands,  thumbs  round  the  shaft.  The  stance 
is  a  little  more  open  than  for  the  drive,  and  it  is  better 
to  stand  closer  to  the  ball.  The  swing  is  more  curtailed 
than  with  a  wooden  club,  and  not  so  flat.  A  point  of 
vital  importance  is  the  correct  timing  of  the  swing. 
Correct  timing  is  very  important  in  all  strokes,  but, 
for  the  making  of  long  iron  shots,  it  is  absolutely 
essential.  In  addressing  the  ball  it  may  be  found  a 
help  to  press  the  heel  of  the  club  well  down  into  the 
ground  behind  it.  The  swing  must  not  be  hurried. 
A  deliberate  swing,  especially  a  deliberate  back  swing, 
is  highly  desirable.  In  bringing  the  club  down  the 
aim  should  be  to  accelerate  the  pace  gradually  until 


286     FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

all  the  fire  and  energy  of  the  shot  is  concentrated 
into  the  instant  immediately  before  the  club  head 
comes  in  contact  with  the  ball.  Turf  is  usually  taken 
with  iron  shots,  and  a  hurried  swing  is  very  likely  to 
make  the  player  dig  heavily  into  the  ground,  instead 
of  cutting  thoroughly  under  the  ball.  The  body  is 
not  supposed  to  turn  on  its  axis  so  freely  for  an  iron 
shot  as  with  a  driver  or  brassey.  It  is  held  slightly 
more  rigid.  At  the  top  of  the  up  swing  the  weight  is 
all  on  the  right  foot,  but  in  the  follow- through  the 
weight  passes  into  the  left  foot.  In  following  through 
the  arms  should  go  straight  out,  not  round  the 
shoulder. 

Miss  Cecil  Leitch,  in  a  chapter  on  iron  play  in  her 
book  Golf  for  Girls,  lays  great  stress  on  three  points. 
These  are  :  that  the  player  must  grip  the  club  firmly  ; 
that  she  must  keep  her  wrists  stiff  all  the  time  ;  and 
that  she  must  swing  back  very  slowly.  She  adds  that 
at  the  top  of  the  swing  the  left  eye,  the  point  of  the 
left  shoulder,  and  the  ball  are  all  in  a  straight  line. 
Miss  Cecil  Leitch  displays  no  small  skill  with  her  irons, 
therefore  her  remarks  are  worth  attention.  She  also 
states  that  '  most  girls  use  their  irons  like  woodens, 
picking  up  the  ball  at  the  bottom  of  the  swing,  or  even 
later  than  that,  when  the  club  has  begun  the  upward 
swing.'  This  is  the  reason,  is  her  comment,  why 
women  hit  a  much  higher  ball  than  men.  Her  own 
theory  is,  that  in  correct  iron  play  the  club  should 
strike  the  ball  just  before  the  bottom  of  the  swing 
and  while  still  moving  downwards.  It  may  be  a 
little  bit  difficult  for  the  beginner  to  grasp  what 


MISS  STELLA  TEMPLE 
Runner-up  Open  Ladies'  Championship,  1912 


I  To  face  p.  287 


IRON  PLAY  287 

exactly  is  involved  in  this  last  statement,  but  I  imagine 
it  comes  to  very  much  the  same  thing  as  the  advice 
to  cut  well  under  the  ball. 

Mrs.  Cuthell  and  the  Misses  Whigham  used  to  be 
remarkably  good  iron  players.  Of  the  leading  lights 
of  to-day  Miss  Doris  Chambers  and  Miss  Margaret 
Curtis,  the  American  champion,  take  first  place. 
The  latter  is  a  terrific  hitter  with  all  her  clubs,  but 
she  gets  an  astonishing  distance  with  an  iron.  She 
possesses  very  strong  wrists  and  is  of  powerful  physique, 
and  these  are  two  very  helpful  assets. 

Practically,  the  only  difference  between  a  full  iron 
and  a  three-quarter  is  that  the  swing  is  still  more 
curtailed  and  the  stance  a  shade  more  open.  With 
reference  to  the  half -iron  there  are  a  number  of  points 
which  require  notice.  A  half -iron  shot  is  much  more 
of  a  hit  than  a  swing,  and  so  in  attempting  it  the 
beginner  need  not  tax  her  brain  with  the  maxim  that 
the  ball  must  be  swept  away,  a  maxim  which  has 
borne  such  an  important  part  in  her  previous  instruc- 
tion. The  body  should  be  kept  perfectly  still.  The 
requisite  movement  is  altogether  one  of  the  arms. 
The  head,  body,  and  feet  should  alike  remain  still. 
The  principal  idea  which  has  to  be  instilled  into  the 
player's  mind  about  this  shot  is  that  it  should  be  a 
controlled  one.  There  must  be  no  loose  easy  swing 
about  it ;  restraint  is  the  predominant  feature.  As 
this  is  the  case,  it  is  better  to  grip  with  the  thumbs 
down  the  shaft,  and  to  grasp  the  club  short  of  the 
extreme  end.  The  stance  is  decidedly  more  open 
than  even  for  the  three-quarter  shot,  and  the  ball 


288     FROM  THE  LADIES*  POINT  OF  VIEW 

should  be  pretty  far  back,  almost  in  a  line  with  the 
right  foot.  The  general  attitude  is  slightly  stooping 
with  the  knees  a  trifle  bent,  but  it  is  not  good  to  adopt 
too  crouching  a  position.  The  club  may  be  taken 
back  almost  to  the  shoulder.  The  wrists  and  the  face 
of  the  club  should  turn  away  from  the  ball  in  the  same 
fashion  as  directed  for  the  up  swing  of  the  drive. 
The  arms  must  not  be  allowed  to  fly  too  far  out.  A 
good  guide  is  that  the  right  elbow  should  be  kept 
close  in  to  the  side  at  the  top  of  the  swing.  The 
shoulders  may  turn  a  very  little  and  the  knees  give 
slightly,  but  these  movements  must  be  kept  strictly 
under  control. 

The  follow-through  is  very  much  restrained.  From 
a  study  of  photographs  of  good  players  illustrating 
the  finish  of  this  particular  stroke,  it  will  be  seen  that 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  stroke  the  right  wrist  is  nearly 
always  turned  over  and  inwards. 

The  length  of  the  shot  is  regulated  by  the  distance 
the  club  is  taken  back,  not  by  the  pace  of  the  swing. 
The  pace  of  the  swing  must  be  exactly  the  same  for 
an  approach  of  thirty  yards  as  for  one  of  sixty. 
Many  beginners  labour  under  the  delusion  that  they 
can  regulate  the  length  of  the  shot  by  the  slowness 
or  impetuosity  of  the  stroke.  Such  an  idea  is  alto- 
gether wrong  and  leads  to  a  very  bad  style  of  play. 
It  is  sometimes  difficult  to  gauge  the  distance  the  club 
must  be  taken  back,  but  it  is  solely  a  matter  of  practice 
and  experience.  It  is  very  much  wiser  to  avoid  trying 
to  do  too  much  with  a  half-iron  shot.  If  there  is  any 
doubt  in  the  mind  of  a  player  as  to  whether  she  can 


IRON  PLAY  289 

reach  the  distance  with  a  half-iron  shot,  she  should 
always  take  a  full  shot.  The  only  exception  to  this 
rule  is  in  the  case  of  a  green  \vith  a  clear  run  up  to  it, 
and  a  gaping  bunker  on  the  far  side.  A  forced  half- 
shot  generally  results  in  the  body  being  thrust  forward. 
The  effort  to  get  all  possible  strength  into  the  stroke 
causes  this  to  happen.  The  maxim  'be  up  '  cannot 
be  too  often  reiterated.  If  the  distance  is  of  such  a 
length  that  the  player  knows  she  can  only  hope  to 
accomplish  it  by  hitting  the  ball  absolutely  perfectly, 
she  will  save  herself  a  great  deal  of  worry  and  repining 
if  she  puts  her  pride  in  her  pocket  and  is  content  to 
play  a  full  or  three-quarter  shot.  Although  we  all 
confidently  hope  to  make  a  perfect  shot  each  time  we 
take  a  club  into  our  hands,  the  sad  fact  is  that  the 
perfect  shot  only  rarely  comes  off.  The  golfer  who  has 
the  courage  always  to  aim  beyond  the  hole  will  go  far 
on  the  road  to  fame.  I  have  never  regretted  anything 
so  much  in  all  my  golfing  career  as  a  wretched  half- 
iron  shot  at  the  eighteenth  hole  at  Troon  in  the  final 
of  the  open  championship.  Miss  Dod  played  the  odd 
with  her  second  and  laid  the  ball  apparently  close  to 
the  hole  (on  coming  up  to  the  green  we  found  it  was 
really  about  ten  yards  short).  I  promptly  lost  my 
head,  and  instead  of  hitting  boldly  at  the  approach, 
made  a  hurried  feeble  flick,  and,  needless  to  say,  lost 
the  hole  and  the  championship  in  consequence.  Who 
has  not  watched  a  match  in  which  she  was  interested, 
and  witnessed  the  player  she  wanted  to  win  throw 
away  chance  after  chance  from  not  being  up  in  her 
approaches.  One  has  groaned  in  bitterness  of  spirit 

T 


290    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

and  realised  to  the  full  the  utter  foolishness  of  it,  but 
one  has  probably  gone  out  immediately  afterwards 
and  done  likewise.  It  is  an  extraordinary  thing  how 
prevalent  is  this  deadly  error.  Even  the  most 
experienced  golfers  fall  victims  to  it. 

The  last  and  most  important  counsel  in  connection 
with  half-iron  shots  is  that  the  eye  must  be  kept  on 
the  ball.  One  is  always  struck,  in  watching  first-class 
golf,  by  the  way  in  which  the  players  keep  their  eyes 
fixed  on  the  spot  where  the  ball  has  been,  quite  an 
appreciable  time  after  it  has  been  hit  away.  The 
insidious  tendency  to  look  up  too  soon  to  see  where 
the  ball  has  gone  to,  must  be  combated.  The  point 
cannot  be  too  much  emphasised.  The  head  should 
not  turn  at  all  with  the  follow -through  of  the  arms, 
and  the  eyes  must  remain  glued  to  the  ground.  It 
is  easier  to  grasp  this  advice  by  practice  than  by 
theory.  A  very  good  plan  for  a  beginner  would  be 
to  count  six  before  allowing  herself  to  look  up.  It 
might  have  a  disconcerting  effect  on  her  game  at 
first,  but  she  would  very  soon  get  accustomed  to  it. 
Nothing  would  teach  her  more  quickly  to  acquire  the 
habit  of  concentrating  her  attention  on  the  right  spot. 

A  shot  for  which  an  iron  is  admirably  adapted  is 
the  run-up  approach.  There  are  two  main  ways  of 
approaching,  the  pitch  and  the  run-up.  Although  all 
good  golfers  should  know  how  to  play  both  of  these 
strokes,  nearly  every  one  has  a  decided  preference 
for  one  or  the  other  of  them.  This  preference  is  often 
due  to  the  character  of  the  links  on  which  the  player 
has  learnt  her  golf.  Some  links  are  better  adapted 


IRON  PLAY  291 

to  one  shot,  some  to  the  other.  For  instance,  Miss 
Leitch,  having  learnt  her  golf  at  Silloth  where  she 
says  pitching  is  unnecessary,  displays  a  greater 
proficiency  in  running  up.  The  north  of  Ireland 
golfers  who  are  familiar  with  such  links  as  Portrush 
and  Newcastle  generally  pitch.  The  Scottish  players 
of  St.  Andrews,  Troon,  Prestwick,  North  Berwick, 
and  other  similar  courses,  who  are  accustomed  to 
extensive  greens  with  a  clear  way  in  front  of  them, 
usually  run  their  approaches.  Miss  Dorothy  Campbell 
is  a  past  master,  or  rather,  I  suppose,  I  should  say  a 
past  mistress  of  the  art.  Her  approaching  drives 
one  to  desperation  when  playing  against  her.  She 
gives  the  ball  a  little  tap,  an  annoyed  opponent  would 
almost  call  it  a  scuffling  shot,  and  you  think  she  has 
missed  it,  but  the  ball  runs  and  runs  with  the  most 
maddening  persistency  and  perseverance  until  it 
eventually  finishes  up  close  to  the  hole.  Personally, 
I  must  say,  I  prefer  pitching  ;  it  is  so  much  the  prettier 
shot ;  and  I  flatly  disagree  with  Mr.  Darwin  in  his 
statement  in  an  earlier  chapter,  that  the  ball  cannot 
be  pitched  on  to  a  plateau  green  and  made  to  stay 
there.  In  my  opinion  it  is  much  easier  to  pitch  it 
up  than  to  run  it  up,  and  with  a  properly  fashioned 
club  and  a  good  deal  of  cut  on  the  ball  it  is  quite 
possible  to  make  the  ball  pull  up  suddenly  even 
under  very  adverse  circumstances.  The  ball  which  is 
supposed  to  run  up  the  edge  of  the  bank,  so  often 
walks  up  to  the  top,  and  evidently  does  not  like  the 
look  of  things  when  it  gets  there,  and  decides  to  come 
down  again  into  the  greater  shelter  at  the  bottom. 


292    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

We  have  often  seen  an  unfortunate  player  struggling 
in  this  way,  the  ball  rolling  up  to  the  very  edge  and 
coming  back  again  with  irritating  reiteration,  until 
in  a  rage  the  player  takes  a  mighty  blow,  and  not  only 
clears  the  primary  obstruction,  but  also  clears  the 
green,  and  the  same  old  game  begins  again  on  the 
other  side  of  the  plateau.  All  the  same,  although  I 
will  defend  the  pitch  shot  through  thick  and  thin, 
I  quite  appreciate  the  usefulness  on  occasions  of  the 
run-up,  and  I  fully  concur  with  Mr.  Darwin  that  all 
beginners  should  learn  both  styles  of  play.  Miss 
Leitch,  who,  as  I  said  before,  is  very  proficient  in  the 
art  of  running  up,  gives  the  following  advice  about 
playing  the  shot.  '  For  the  run-up  approach  with 
the  iron  the  stance  should  be  a  square  one,  the  feet 
being  equi -distant  from  the  ball.  Let  the  club  lie 
naturally  and  stand  fairly  erect.  As  to  how  much  the 
club  is  taken  back  depends  on  the  length  of  the  shot. 
The  swing  is  a  flat  one.  The  club  follows  through 
well,  and  the  hands  turn  over  at  the  finish.  The 
turf  is  brushed,  not  cut.  In  the  address  it  is  very 
important  that  the  arms  should  be  kept  fairly  close  to 
the  body.  This  run-up  shot  is  really  much  like  a 
long  putt.' 

Mr.  Darwin  lays  great  stress  on  the  point  that  the 
player  should  stand  with  her  weight  forward  on  the 
left  foot,  the  ball  being  fairly  far  back  towards  the 
right  foot,  and  the  hands  well  forward.  Miss  Leitch 
and  Mr.  Darwin  agree  that  the  right  wrist  should  turn 
over  after  the  ball  is  hit,  the  latter  even  going  so  far 
as  to  say  that  it  should  be  getting  ready  to  turn  over 


IRON  PLAY  293 

just  before  the  ball  is  hit.  Both  also  describe  the 
swing  as  flat  and  low.  As  Miss  Leitch  and  Mr.  Darwin 
have  evidently  studied  the  subject  very  thoroughly, 
and  as  they  have  proved  in  actual  play  that  not  only 
are  their  theories  workable,  but  very  effective,  I  feel 
that  it  is  quite  unnecessary  for  me  to  make  any 
further  comment  on  this  subject.  I  will  just  add 
that  in  all  approaching  the  aim  should  be  not  merely 
to  get  on  to  the  green,  but  to  get  near  to  the  hole. 
If  the  player  succeeds  in  this,  not  only  is  she  likely  to 
demoralise  and  dishearten  her  opponent,  but  she  will 
also  save  a  considerable  number  of  strokes  in  each 
round. 


CHAPTER  III 
PUTTING 

WE  have  come  to  the  consideration  of  the  third 
essential  club  for  a  beginner,  namely,  the  putter. 
Reams  upon  reams  have  been  written  about  putting : 
it  is  wellnigh  impossible  to  say  anything  new  on  the 
subject.  It  would  be  interesting  to  evolve  some 
startling  new  theory,  such  as  that  the  player  should 
stand  on  her  head  to  take  the  line,  but  there  might 
be  difficulty  in  obtaining  support  for  it.  Golfers 
would  not  be  likely  to  possess  the  credulity  of  the 
Chinaman  who  went  to  a  mission  hospital  for  treat- 
ment. The  doctor  (who  had  been  a  great  gymnast) 
examined  him  thoroughly,  and  then  by  way  of  a  joke, 
to  try  if  he  could  shake  his  phlegmatic  calm,  suddenly 
stood  on  his  head  opposite  to  him.  The  Chinaman 
remained  perfectly  grave,  and  after  a  little  took  his 
departure.  A  few  days  after  the  same  Chinaman 
returned.  The  doctor  again  examined  him,  gave 
him  some  medicine,  and  waited  for  him  to  leave. 
The  Chinaman,  however,  did  not  go,  and  the  doctor 
at  last  asked  him  why  he  delayed.  '  You  have  only 
looked  at  me  in  one  way,'  said  the  Chinaman  reproach- 
fully, 4  last  time  you  looked  at  me  the  other  way  also.' 
Putting  has  been  the  despair  and  joy  of  golfers 

294 


THE  HEELS  TOGETHER  PUTTING  STANCE 
Miss  VIOLET  HEZLET 


[To  face  p.  294 


PUTTING  295 

ever  since  the  game  was  invented.  A  gamut  of 
emotion  can  be  experienced  on  each  green.  Hope, 
joy,  rage,  frenzy,  and  despair  may  in  turn  possess  the 
player,  and,  most  difficult  feat,  must  be  rigorously 
prevented  from  finding  outward  expression,  so  that 
the  player  can  present  a  calm  front  to  her  adversary 
and  to  the  world.  Golf  is  a  grand  school  for  self- 
control,  and,  breathe  it  low,  hypocrisy.  Not  only 
does  the  player  pass  through  this  stress  of  emotion 
when  making  her  own  shots,  but  she  has  to  suffer  it 
also  when  watching  her  adversary  play.  It  is  very 
difficult  to  keep  an  unmoved  countenance,  and  utter 
the  stereotyped  phrase,  '  Oh  !  good  putt,'  when  a 
hole  or  a  half  is  snatched  from  one's  grasp  by  a  fluke 
from  the  edge  of  the  green.  But  when  a  series  of 
these  flukes  is  perpetrated  it  is  almost  more  than 
human  flesh  can  stand.  The  natural  man,  or  rather 
woman,  feels  inclined  to  execute  summary  vengeance 
on  her  enemy.  Probably  the  person  responsible  for 
these  flukes  apologises  in  a  half-guilty  fashion  for 
having  made  them,  but  this  does  not  make  the  matter 
any  better.  We  know  that  she  is  naturally  internally 
jubilant,  and  we  are  not  in  the  least  soothed  by  the 
reflection  that  if  the  flukes  had  been  on  our  side, 
we  would  have  been  equally  jubilant.  We  only  feel 
terribly  aggrieved  and  ill-used,  and  draw  largely  upon 
that  fund  of  self-pity  of  which  nearly  all  golfers  possess 
such  an  abundant  supply.  In  the  other  parts  of  the 
game  it  is  much  easier  to  take  the  ups  and  downs  of 
golf  philosophically.  Even  if  a  drive  is  missed  or  an 
iron  shot  foozled  without  penalty,  or  an  opponent's 


296    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

ball  barefacedly  jumps  a  bunker  by  which  it  should 
have  been  trapped,  we  feel  that  there  is  always  the 
possibility  that  something  may  turn  up  to  change  the 
luck  to  our  side  before  the  hole  is  actually  finished. 
But  on  the  green,  when  we  are  confronted  with  the 
two  balls  and  the  hole  in  close  proximity,  and  we 
know  that  postponement  of  the  issue  is  no  longer 
possible,  and  everything  will  depend  on  the  happenings 
of  the  next  few  moments,  the  situation  is  very  different. 
Courage  oozes  away,  knees  tremble,  hands  shake,  and 
nerves  are  strained  to  a  breaking  point. 

One  of  the  irritating  features  of  putting  is  its 
uncertainty.  On  one  day  the  balls  appear  to  be 
attracted  to  the  hole  as  by  a  magnet,  on  the  next 
they  run  round  the  edges,  jump  in  and  out,  deliber- 
ately turn  off  the  line,  and  commit  all  manner  of 
eccentricities,  and  all  for  no  apparent  reason.  The 
veriest  tyro  will  at  times  outputt  the  most  experienced 
golfer.  No  one  seems  to  be  exempt  from  off-days  in 
putting.  It  is  remarkable,  too,  that  these  off-days 
are  often  accepted,  with  bitterness  of  soul  indeed,  but 
yet  in  a  fatalistic  spirit,  as  belonging  to  the  inevitable. 
If  a  scratch  player  is  badly  off  her  long  game,  she  will 
resort  to  very  drastic  measures  to  find  out  the  fault 
and  cure  it,  but  if  she  is  badly  off  her  putting,  she 
is  much  more  likely  to  regard  it  as  a  matter  for  regret 
and  annoyance,  but  still  a  misfortune  which  she  must 
simply  endure.  She  waits  with  what  semblance  of 
patience  she  can  muster  until  her  putting  recovers 
itself  again. 

Now,  all  this  is  not  very  encouraging  reading  for 


PUTTING  297 

the  beginner,  but  there  is  a  point  to  be  emphasised. 
That  point  is  this,  that  although  every  one  putts 
badly  on  occasions,  from  various  causes  temperamental 
and  other,  the  beginner  can  to  a  great  extent  provide 
against  the  recurrence  of  bad  putting,  by  assiduous 
practice  and  the  cultivation  from  the  start  of  a  sound 
style.  Nerves  and  want  of  confidence  are  great 
hindrances  to  good  putting,  and  are  very  hard  to 
cope  with.  The  possession,  too,  of  a  reputation  is 
responsible  for  occasional  failure.  It  is  much  harder 
for  the  person  with  a  reputation  to  maintain  to  putt 
than  for  the  average  player.  When  the  watching 
crowd  have  made  up  their  minds  that  a  putt  cannot 
be  missed,  the  result  is  more  than  likely  to  fall  short 
of  their  expectations.  But,  as  in  music,  proficiency 
in  technique  is  a  great  help  to  a  nervous  artiste,  so 
in  golf  the  possession  of  sound  principles  and  the 
knowledge  of  the  mechanical  part  of  the  game  gained 
by  experience  will  enable  the  player  in  some  degree 
to  withstand  the  nervous  strain,  and  will  save  her 
from  a  complete  collapse.  Therefore  let  the  beginner 
cultivate  an  optimistic  spirit.  For  some  time  she  will 
be  immune  from  the  real  trials  of  the  green  when  the 
issue  of  a  championship  or  some  important  match 
hangs  on  the  holing  or  missing  of  a  short  putt.  We 
will  hope  that  by  the  time  she  has  to  face  such  ordeals 
she  will  have  fitted  herself  fully  to  surmount  them. 

Before  we  come  to  the  actual  hitting  of  the  ball 
in  putting,  it  may  be  as  well  to  say  a  few  words  as  to 
the  taking  of  the  line.  The  success  of  a  putt  depends 
very  much  upon  whether  the  line  has  been  studied. 


298    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

Each  green  is  not  an  exact  replica  of  the  last.  They 
nearly  all  vary  in  character.  Every  undulation  of 
the  ground,  every  slight  unevenness  of  the  surface, 
will  have  its  due  effect  on  the  course  of  the  ball. 
Any  difference  in  the  character  of  the  turf  over  which 
the  ball  has  to  pass  on  its  way  to  the  hole,  such  as  is 
occasioned  by  a  plantain  or  daisy  root,  or  by  the 
length  and  nature  of  the  grass,  will  alter  the  pace  at 
which  the  ball  runs.  Every  obstacle,  such  as  a  small 
twig,  leaf,  wormcast  or  similar  obstruction,  will  deflect 
or  delay  its  course.  Hence  it  is  necessary  that  all 
these  points  should  be  taken  into  account  before  the 
putt  is  actually  made.  The  wind,  too,  exercises  a 
good  deal  of  influence  over  the  ball ;  therefore  its 
strength  and  the  direction  from  which  it  comes  must 
also  be  noted.  The  line  can  be  taken  either  from  the 
ball  to  the  hole  or  from  the  hole  to  the  ball.  It  is  a 
curious  anomaly  that,  while  it  is  an  acknowledged 
fact  that  if  there  is  any  difference  between  the  two 
lines,  that  which  is  seen  from  the  hole  to  the  ball  is 
the  correct  one,  nine  out  of  ten  golfers  on  ordinary 
occasions  use  only  the  line  from  ball  to  hole.  The 
posture  in  which  the  line  is  taken  is  a  matter  of  choice. 
Some  players  simply  stand  up  a  few  yards  behind  the 
ball  and  view  the  ground  from  that  position.  Others 
drop  on  their  hands  and  knees  in  something  of  the 
attitude  adopted  by  their  remote  ancestors  when 
running  along  the  ground.  Others  again  use  a  kind 
of  squatting  attitude,  and  meditate  profoundly  with 
the  right  elbow  resting  on  the  knee  and  the  chin 
buried  in  the  palm  of  the  hand.  The  beginner  can 


PUTTING  299 

select  whatever  attitude  takes  her  fancy,  but  when 
she  has  taken  up  her  posture  may  we  implore  her  not 
to  dally  too  long.  The  more  important  the  putt,  the 
more  consideration  has  to  be  given  to  it,  and  careful- 
ness and  thoroughness  in  the  taking  of  the  line  are 
much  to  be  commended,  but  there  is  a  reasonable 
time  limit.  An  exaggeratedly  slow  putter  is  a  perfect 
nuisance  to  every  one  with  whom  she  has  to  do.  She 
exasperates  her  opponent  to  the  last  degree,  she  makes 
the  people  behind  fume  with  impatience,  and  if  she 
at  any  time  attracts  a  '  gallery  J  she  is  responsible  for 
the  members  of  that  '  gallery '  who  contract  violent 
chills,  and  in  fairness  should  be  liable  for  their  doctors' 
bills. 

What  may  or  may  not  be  done  to  the  line  of  the 
putt  after  all  this  careful  investigation  of  it,  is 
embodied  in  the  following  rules  : 

RULE  28  (1).  Any  loose  impediment  may  be  lifted  from 
the  putting-green,  irrespective  of  the  position  of  the  player's 
ball.  If  the  player's  ball,  when  on  the  putting-green, 
move  after  any  loose  impediment  lying  within  six  inches 
of  it  has  been  touched  by  the  player,  his  partner,  or  either 
of  their  caddies,  the  player  shall  be  deemed  to  have 
caused  it  to  move  and  the  penalty  shall  be  one  stroke. 

(2)  Dung,  wormcasts,  snow,  and  ice  may  be  scraped 
aside  with  a  club,  but  the  club  must  not  be  laid  with 
more  than  its  own  weight  upon  the  ground,  nor  must 
anything  be  pressed  down  either  with  the  club  or  in  any 
other  way. 

(3)  The  line  of  the  putt  must  not  be  touched  except 
by  placing  the  club  immediately  in  front  of  the  ball  in 
the  act  of  addressing  it,  and  as  above  authorised.     The 


300    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

penalty  for  a  breach  of  this  rule  shall  be  the  loss  of  the 
hole. 

RULE  29  (1).  When  the  player's  ball  is  on  the  putting- 
green,  the  player's  caddie,  his  partner,  or  his  partner's 
caddie  may,  before  the  stroke  is  played,  point  out  a 
direction  for  putting,  but  hi  doing  this  they  shall  not 
touch  the  ground  on  the  proposed  line  of  the  putt.  No 
mark  shall  be  placed  anywhere  on  the  putting-green. 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  the  slower  the  pace  at 
which  the  ball  is  rolling,  the  more  easily  will  it  be 
affected  by  the  irregularities  of  the  ground. 

Great  latitude  can  be  allowed  in  the  matter  of  style 
in  putting,  as  people  putt  well  and  badly  in  all  manner 
of  attitudes.  But  there  are  extremes  of  style  which 
should  obviously  be  avoided.  One  is  the  exaggerated 
crouch  where  the  player  resembles  nothing  so  much 
as  an  old  woman  bent  double  with  rheumatism. 
Another  is  the  very  upright  stance  where  the  club  is 
held  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  leather,  and  the  impres- 
sion is  given  that  very  little  control  is  possible.  Yet 
a  third  is  the  style  in  which  the  player  turns  both  her 
knees  and  both  her  elbows  out  to  an  exaggerated 
extent  and  holds  the  club  at  a  peculiarly  upright  angle. 
Some  players  putt  off  the  right  foot,  some  off  the  left. 
Some  stand  squarely  at  the  ball,  others  adopt  the 
open  stance,  others  again  advance  the  left  foot  and 
withdraw  the  right.  Some  turn  in  their  toes,  some 
turn  out  their  toes.  Some  keep  their  feet  wide  apart, 
some  put  their  heels  together,  some  separate  them  by 
a  medium  distance.  Miss  D.  Campbell  and  Miss 
Grant-Suttie  use  rather  a  square  stance.  Miss  C. 


MKhir.M    ITTTINC   STAN<   K 


[To/aw  ^.  301 


PUTTING  301 

Leitch  putts  off  her  right  foot,  her  feet  being  fairly 
close  together.  Miss  Violet  Hezlet,  whose  putting  is 
one  of  the  strongest  points  of  her  game,  keeps  her  heels 
close  together.  Mrs.  Cuthell,  who,  at  the  zenith  of 
her  fame,  was  one  of  the  finest  putters  I  have  ever 
seen,  uses  a  comparatively  open  stance,  with  the  ball 
rather  nearer  her  left  foot. 

The  best  plan  for  a  beginner  as  regards  stance  is 
to  adopt  a  medium  position,  and  the  main  thing 
to  be  careful  of  is  not  to  stand  too  close  to  the  ball, 
as  by  so  doing  the  freedom  of  the  wrists  is  interfered 
with.  The  style  in  part  depends  on  the  kind  of  putter 
used,  a  wooden  or  aluminium  putter  demanding  a 
more  upright  stance  than  an  iron  putter. 

As  there  is  a  choice  of  stance,  so  there  is  a  choice 
of  grip.  The  ordinary  grip  and  the  interlocked  grip 
are  those  most  generally  used.  A  very  large  number 
of  people  who  do  not  use  the  interlocked  grip  through 
the  green,  take  to  it  on  the  green  with  satisfactory 
results.  But  there  are  good  putters  and  bad  putters 
in  plenty  who  are  strong  advocates  of  each  style, 
and  the  matter  is  one  to  be  decided  by  each  individual 
for  herself.  If  the  ordinary  grip  be  used,  it  should  be 
of  a  more  delicate  character  for  putting  than  for  the 
rest  of  the  game.  The  club  is  held  principally  with 
the  fingers,  not  with  the  palm  of  the  hand.  Indeed, 
some  people  go  so  far  as  to  make  their  left-hand  grip 
consist  merely  of  first  finger  and  thumb.  To  ensure 
control  and  straightness  the  thumbs  are  better  kept 
down  the  shaft  than  round  it.  There  is  a  great 
diversity  of  opinion  as  to  which  hand  should  be  the 


302    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

master  hand  in  putting.  Indeed,  opinions  are  so 
divided  and  there  are  such  good  authorities  on  each 
side,  that  it  seems  to  be  six  to  one  and  half  a  dozen  to 
the  other.  But  as  it  is  generally  easier  to  use  the 
right  hand  more  than  the  left,  the  beginner  is  advised 
first  to  give  the  right-hand  system  a  fair  trial.  If  she 
finds  it  does  not  work  satisfactorily,  she  can  advance 
the  left  hand  to  the  place  of  honour,  and  then  compare 
results  and  decide  accordingly. 

Having  adjusted  grip  and  stance  on  sound  lines, 
the  player  is  now  ready  for  the  actual  hitting  of  the 
ball.  At  this  point  the  use  of  the  wrists  becomes  a 
very  important  feature.  Nearly  all  good  putters  do 
great  work  with  their  wrists.  The  alternative  method 
is  to  putt  with  stiff  wrists,  but  by  so  doing  the  arms 
are  bound  to  be  moved  more  pronouncedly.  This 
movement  of  the  arms  is  very  likely  to  cause  a  move- 
ment of  the  body,  a  result  which  invariably  leads 
to  direful  consequences.  The  moving  of  the  body 
forward  is  a  fault  which  must  be  strenuously  fought 
against.  The  foundation  of  a  putting  stroke,  and  an 
essential  to  its  success,  is  the  smooth  backward  and 
forward  motion  by  which  the  club  head  travels  behind 
and  along  the  line  by  which  the  ball  is  to  travel. 
This  smooth,  even  motion  can  only  be  acquired 
correctly  by  prolonged  practice.  In  making  the 
stroke  the  left  arm  may  be  kept  reasonably  far  out 
from  the  body,  but  the  right  arm  and  elbow  should  be 
kept  as  close  to  the  side  as  possible.  With  the  stance 
in  which  the  left  foot  is  very  much  advanced  and  the 
right  withdrawn,  the  left  elbow  is  usually  a  good  deal 


PUTTING  303 

more  bent  than  with  the  open  or  square  stance. 
The  keeping  of  the  right  arm  close  to  the  body 
prevents  any  stiffening  of  the  right  wrist  or  abrupt 
checking  of  the  swing.  The  checking  of  the  swing 
must  be  guarded  against,  as  it  is  just  as  important  to 
follow  through  correctly  with  a  putt  as  with  a  drive. 
In  putting  a  much  more  deliberate  swing  is  used  than 
in  any  other  branch  of  the  game.  The  club  head  is 
taken  back  some  distance  even  for  short  putts,  and  the 
length  of  the  shot  is  regulated  by  the  force  with  which 
the  club  is  brought  forward  again.  A  putting  stroke 
in  this  way  differs  from  all  other  strokes  in  golf,  as  in 
driving  and  iron  play  the  length  of  the  shot  is  regulated 
by  the  distance  back  the  club  is  taken,  not  by  the 
pace  of  the  swing.  Although  the  smooth  pendulum 
motion  is  more  generally  used,  quite  a  number  of 
golfers  putt  with  a  kind  of  sharp  tapping  motion. 
This  method  can  be  very  effective,  especially  on  very 
fast  greens,  but  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  it  is  the 
less  certain  of  the  two,  and  the  beginner  would  be 
wiser  to  cultivate  the  smooth  swing.  The  make  of 
putter  used  has  to  be  taken  into  account  in  deciding 
between  the  methods.  An  iron  putter  is  much  more 
suited  to  the  tapping  style  than  one  made  of  wood 
or  aluminium. 

One  very  essential  point  has  not  been  touched  upon 
so  far,  and  that  is  that  the  eye  must  be  kept  on  the 
ball.  The  reader  is  probably  utterly  weary  of  having 
this  refrain  continually  dinned  into  her  ears,  but  it 
really  cannot  be  repeated  too  often.  The  keeping 
the  eye  on  the  ball  is  of  vital  importance  in  putting. 


304    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

The  shorter  the  putt  the  more  necessary  is  it  to  bear 
this  in  mind.  The  desire  to  look  up  at  the  hole  at 
the  moment  of  hitting  is  most  insidious,  and  unless 
the  player  assiduously  practises  avoiding  it,  it  will 
get  the  better  of  her  over  and  over  again.  Why  short 
putts  should  be  the  bane  of  every  golfer's  existence 
is  an  insoluble  riddle.  Their  intrinsic  difficulty  is 
trifling,  and  yet  every  player  dreads  them  because 
sad  experience  has  taught  her  that  they  are  so 
continually  missed.  There  is  scarcely  a  match  in 
which  some  one  does  not  throw  away  a  chance  by 
failing  to  hole  an  easy  putt. 

It  is  always  possible  to  tell  the  initiated  from  the 
uninitiated  in  a  golfing  '  gallery  '  by  noting  the  relative 
value  they  apportion  to  drives  and  putts.  It  is  good 
driving  that  impresses  the  uninitiated,  and  a  raking 
drive  will  produce  a  burst  of  Oh's  and  Ah's  of 
admiration,  while  a  good  putt  will  be  regarded  as  quite 
a  simple  feat.  It  is  only  the  experienced  golfers  who 
sympathise  when  a  champion  misses  a  wretched  little 
putt.  Those  who  are  not  well  versed  in  the  game 
immediately  jump  to  the  conclusion  that  the  player 
has  been  guilty  of  gross  carelessness  or  too  much 
'  cocksureness.'  I  certainly  think  that  since  the 
Rules  Committee  recommended  that  no  putts  should 
be  given,  the  difficulty  of  holing  short  putts  has  been 
lessened.  Formerly  there  was  a  great  deal  of  un- 
certainty as  to  whether  one  would  be  required  to 
play  a  short  putt  or  not.  Sometimes  a  putt  was  given, 
sometimes  it  was  not.  A  generous  or  rash  opponent 
took  a  good  deal  for  granted.  A  prudent  opponent 


PUTTING  305 

required  proof  positive  of  the  player's  capability  to 
make  the  ball  find  the  bottom  of  the  tin.  The 
consequence  was  that  the  player  never  quite  knew 
what  was  going  to  happen.  According  to  the  theory 
of  the  game,  and  indeed  of  common-sense  into  the 
bargain,  she  ought  to  have  gone  boldly  forward  on 
each  occasion  fully  prepared  to  ram  her  ball  into  the 
hole.  But  in  reality  it  was  very  hard  to  do  this. 
One  always  had  a  sneaking  hope  that  the  putt  would 
be  given,  and  so  moved  towards  the  ball  in  a  hesitating 
sort  of  way,  trusting  devoutly  that  one's  skill  or  weak- 
ness would  not  be  put  to  the  proof.  Sometimes,  too, 
an  aggrieved  feeling  would  be  manifested  because  a 
certain  putt  had  not  been  given  and  yet  had  been 
missed,  and  harmony  between  opponents  has  often 
been  broken  in  this  way.  All  this  was  very  wrong. 
A  golf  match  is  a  test  of  the  comparative  skill  of  the 
players,  and  each  should  be  prepared  to  undergo  all 
the  testing  that  the  game  involves.  No  one  should  be 
expected  to  give,  and  no  one  should  expect  to  receive, 
a  point  which  has  not  been  earned.  A  player  is  quite 
justified  in  refusing  to  leave  anything  to  chance,  and 
it  is  perfectly  fair  that  she  should  reap  the  benefit  of 
her  opponent's  mistakes.  The  victory  usually  goes 
to  her  who  makes  the  fewest  mistakes,  and  rightly 
so.  Now  that  people  have  become  more  accustomed 
to  the  idea  that  all  short  putts  should  be  holed,  they 
practise  them  with  more  care. 

A  good  many  short  putts  are  missed  through  being 
played  hurriedly.  I  have  found  by  experience  that 
one  is  much  more  certain  of  holing  these  putts  if  the 

u 


306    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

eye  is  kept  fixedly  on  the  ball  and  the  stroke  made 
very  deliberately.  I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  I 
have  found  the  recipe  a  complete  safeguard  ;  far  from 
it ;  but  I  do  think  that  it  is  the  way  to  attain  the  best 
results.  As  a  rule  it  is  not  a  good  thing  to  dally  too 
long  over  putts,  once  the  player  has  decided  her  line 
and  plan  of  campaign,  but  the  concentration  necessary 
to  play  a  shot  very  deliberately  is  undoubtedly  helpful 
in  negotiating  quite  a  short  putt. 

I  suppose  no  discussion  of  putting  would  be  com- 
plete without  some  reference  to  the  necessity  of  hitting 
the  ball  hard  enough  on  the  green.  But  the  subject 
has  been  worn  threadbare  by  continued  repetition. 
Mr.  Darwin  says  it  is  one  more  fitted  to  be  treated 
by  a  moral  essayist  than  by  a  mere  golf  player. 
Failure  in  courage  is  one  of  the  main  reasons  for 
short  putting.  The  player  is  often  afraid  of  running 
out  of  holing  distance  on  the  far  side  of  the  hole, 
and  consequently  makes  the  fatal  mistake  of  only 
covering  a  portion  of  the  required  distance.  In 
putting  one  must  call  upon  one's  courage  and  play  for 
the  back  of  the  hole.  There  are  times,  of  course, 
when  judgment  has  to  be  exercised  in  the  matter,  as, 
for  instance,  when  the  green  is  on  a  slope  and  the  hole 
lies  above  the  player's  ball,  it  is  wiser  for  her  to  putt 
so  that  if  she  does  fail  to  hole  out  in  the  first  attempt, 
she  still  has  an  uphill  putt  before  her  and  not  a  down- 
hill one  for  the  second  effort.  The  reverse  holds  good 
if  the  ball  has  to  be  played  from  the  top  of  the  slope. 
In  that  case  she  must  putt  a  little  hard  so  as  to  be 
certain  of  passing  the  hole  if  she  misses,  and  thus  have 


PUTTING  307 

an  easy  putt  back  instead  of  the  more  dimcult  one 
down  the  hill.  A  downhill  putt  on  a  fast  green  is 
excessively  difficult  to  accomplish  satisfactorily.  The 
ball  gathers  impetus  all  the  way,  and  unless  it  is  hit 
absolutely  truly  for  the  centre  of  the  hole,  it  is  bound 
to  miss  its  mark. 

The  question  whether  men  or  women  are  the  better 
putters  is  an  oft-debated  one.  There  is  no  reason 
why  women  should  not  putt  as  well  as,  or  better 
than,  men,  as  skill,  not  strength,  is  the  chief  requisite. 
Most  women  do  not  study  their  putts  as  carefully  as 
men,  but  I  will  not  venture  an  opinion  as  to  whether 
the  general  results  justify  them  in  not  doing  so.  The 
question  of  the  comparative  excellence  of  the  sexes 
as  putters  is  not  one  of  vast  importance.  The  point 
that  immediately  concerns  us  is  that  each  golfer  should 
equip  herself  to  putt  as  well  as  she  can  against  man  or 
woman,  and  so  long  as  she  can  prove  her  own  individual 
superiority  she  need  not  worry  about  generalities. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THROUGH  THE  GREEN 

ALTHOUGH  out  of  a  doubtful  or  bad  lie  the  swing  with 
a  brassey  varies  slightly  from  that  used  with  a  driver, 
there  is  practically  no  difference  between  a  driver  and 
a  brassey  shot  when  the  ball  is  lying  well  through  the 
green.  In  fact,  many  people  never  carry  a  brassey, 
but  make  a  driver  do  all  the  work.  This  plan,  how- 
ever, only  works  well  on  links  where  the  turf  is  of  a 
particularly  fine  quality.  On  courses  where  cupped 
lies  and  uncertain  stances  are  frequently  to  be  met 
with,  the  brassey  is  the  more  suitable  club  to  use,  and 
it  is  practically  a  necessity  for  those  who  wish  to  get 
the  most  out  of  their  game.  Some  years  ago  it  was 
invariably  thought  the  right  thing  to  make  the  shaft 
of  a  brassey  slightly  shorter  than  that  of  a  driver. 
Nowadays,  opinion  seems  to  be  veering  round  to 
making  both  clubs  the  same  length,  on  the  principle 
that,  as  the  difference  in  swinging  the  two  is  so  slight, 
any  variation  in  length  only  complicates  matters. 
The  brassey  shaft  is  stiffer  and  the  face  of  the  club 
more  laid  back.  The  name  is  derived  from  the  plate 
of  brass  which  covers  the  sole  of  the  club.  This  plate 
of  brass  saves  the  sole  from  wear  and  tear,  and  it  also 
helps  in  cutting  through  the  ground  or  any  obstruction 


•»».».»•     * 


Ju 

€ 


'• 


THROUGH  THE  GREEN  309 

when  the  ball  is  not  lying  too  well.  With  these  few 
exceptions  the  club  is  made  on  very  much  the  same  lines 
as  the  player's  driver,  the  most  usual  way  of  getting 
a  suitable  brassey  being  to  give  the  driver  used  to  the 
clubmaker  and  to  tell  him  to  make  the  brassey  after 
the  same  pattern,  only  with  the  necessary  modifications 
already  specified.  Few  ladies'  links  afford  much 
scope  for  brassey  play,  but  on  long  links  the  club 
can  be  most  useful.  It  is  a  very  pleasant  sensation 
to  hit  a  really  clean  long  brassey  shot,  and  see  the  ball 
soaring  away  into  the  dim  distance.  It  pays  well  to 
be  able  to  use  this  club  satisfactorily.  At  many  holes 
a  good  brassey  player  will  reach  the  green  in  two 
and  be  able  to  putt  her  third,  when  a  weaker  player 
will  take  three  to  get  within  putting  distance.  Or, 
again,  the  brassey  will  enable  one  who  can  use  it  well 
to  go  for  some  particular  hazard  and  clear  it  success- 
fully, when  another  who  has  not  the  same  skill  has  to 
take  an  iron  and  play  short,  at  the  cost  of  an  extra 
stroke.  Speaking  from  the  woman's  point  of  view, 
Deal  is  a  links  where  brassey  play  is  of  tremendous 
importance.  Much  the  same  may  be  said  of  Walton 
Heath,  where  the  second  shots  are  far  more  difficult 
than  the  drives.  At  Newcastle,  Co.  Down,  good 
brassey  shots  pay  well,  and  the  character  of  the  turf 
seems  to  be  such  as  to  make  it  particularly  easy  to 
pick  them  up.  The  turf  makes  a  great  difference. 
It  is  much  harder  to  get  a  brassey  shot  away  well 
from  very  bare  turf  than  from  that  on  which  the  grass 
grows  thickly.  A  shot  made  with  a  brassey  will  not 
run  as  far  as  one  made  with  a  driver,  owing  to  the 


310    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIE\Y 

extra  loft  on  the  face  of  the  former  club ;  therefore, 
when  the  lie  and  stance  are  exceptionally  good,  it  is 
not  only  permissible,  but  very  advisable,  to  take  a 
driver  through  the  green.  But  the  circumstances 
must  be  exceptionally  favourable,  else  it  is  not  worth 
while  running  the  risk  of  not  getting  the  ball  up. 
With  an  ordinary  good  stance  and  lie  the  brassey  may 
be  used  in  an  exactly  similar  fashion  to  a  driver.  It 
is  important  for  the  beginner  to  bear  in  mind  when 
playing  this  stroke,  that,  although  her  ball  is  lying 
on  the  turf  instead  of  being  teed  up,  she  need  not 
make  any  extraordinary  effort  to  lift  it.  The  club 
will  do  the  work  of  itself,  as  the  loft  on  the  face  is  quite 
sufficient  to  make  the  ball  rise  without  any  further 
help.  The  attempt  to  force  the  ball  up  from  the 
ground  only  results  in  dropping  the  right  shoulder, 
a  fault  for  which  no  measure  of  condemnation  is  too 
strong.  The  beginner  may  find  that  she  cannot  play 
the  shot  successfully  at  first,  and  that  the  ball  is 
inclined  to  run  along  the  ground  instead  of  flying 
through  the  air,  but  she  must  not  be  discouraged, 
but  must  just  persevere  steadily  until  some  improve- 
ment manifests  itself.  Topping  is  not  nearly  such  a 
heinous  crime  as  dropping  the  right  shoulder,  and  it 
is  much  the  easier  fault  of  the  two  to  cure.  Topping 
may  result  from  a  variety  of  causes.  The  player 
may  not  be  getting  down  to  the  ball  sufficiently,  or 
she  may  be  taking  her  eye  off  too  soon,  or  looking  at 
the  top  of  the  ball  instead  of  at  the  centre  of  the 
side  nearest  the  club.  She  may  be  standing  too  close 
to  the  ball,  or  she  may  be  falling  forward  in  the  middle 


THROUGH  THE  GREEN  311 

of  her  swing.  Any  of  these  faults  would  be  quite 
sufficient  to  spoil  the  stroke.  The  remedy  in  each 
case  is  obvious  and  easily  tried. 

Getting  down  to  the  ball  is  the  only  one  that 
presents  any  difficulty,  and  it  is  a  golfing  term  which 
is  very  hard  to  explain.  I  have  recently  asked  several 
first-class  golfers  how  to  define  it,  but  they  all  seem 
equally  hazy  on  the  point.  They  vaguely  aver  that 
it  means  to  stoop,  but  how  much  or  how  little,  or  what, 
if  anything,  must  be  done  besides,  they  cannot  tell. 
They  instinctively  do  the  thing  required  in  actual 
play,  but  they  cannot  describe  it  in  words.  I  must 
confess  that  I  find  it  equally  hard  to  define.  I 
think  it  must  mean  a  relaxing  of  the  tension  of  the 
body,  a  yielding  of  the  upright  position  sufficiently 
to  make  sure  that  the  ball  is  comfortably  within  reach, 
and  that  the  club  will  strike  it  fairly  in  the  even  course 
of  the  swing  without  any  jerk  or  straining  of  the  body. 
A  possible  point  is  the  hitting  of  the  ball  at  its  lowest 
extremity,  but  as  to  this  last  I  would  not  be  quite 
sure.  A  fault  to  which  a  beginner  is  very  liable  is 
jerking  her  body  backwards  and  upwards  as  she  raises 
her  arms  for  the  back  swing.  This  backward  jerk 
dislocates  the  even  motion  of  the  swing  dreadfully, 
and  inevitably  spoils  the  shot.  The  slightly  stooped 
position  must  be  maintained  throughout  the  whole 
swing,  except  at  the  finish  of  the  follow-through,  and 
the  body  must  only  be  allowed  to  turn  sideways,  not 
upward. 

When  a  ball  is  lying  in  a  cupped  lie,  it  is  better  to 
hit  it  with  the  heel  of  the  club  and  to  swing  more 


312    FROM  THE  LADIES4  POINT  OF  VIEW 

uprightly.  Turf  should  be  taken,  and  the  shot  is 
played  with  almost  a  little  jerk,  caused  by  getting  the 
wrists  well  into  the  stroke  just  as  the  club  head  comes 
into  contact  with  the  ball  and  the  ground.  I  say  the 
ball  and  the  ground,  because  in  this  sort  of  stroke  the 
club  should  meet  them  both  simultaneously.  This 
jerk  will  force  the  ball  a  long  distance,  and  is  particu- 
larly useful  against  a  wind,  as  with  it  the  ball  can  be 
kept  fairly  low.  When  the  stance  is  unfavourable, 
a  very  important  point  to  remember  is  not  to  try  to 
do  too  much  ;  in  fact,  not  to  press.  When  the  ball  is 
lying  below  the  player,  the  fault  which  has  most  to 
be  guarded  against  is  letting  the  body  fall  forward. 
When  the  ball  is  lying  above  the  stance,  the  grip  of 
the  club  should  be  shortened  and  the  swing  kept  rather 
flat  and  short.  One  of  my  earliest  golfing  recollections 
is  seeing  Lady  Margaret  Hamilton  Russell  play  a 
beautiful  approach  shot  of  this  description  at  the 
old  chapel  hole  at  Portrush,  during  one  of  the  rounds 
of  the  1893  open  ladies'  championship. 

With  that  most  objectionable  of  all  lies,  the  hanging 
lie,  much  will  depend  on  the  nature  of  the  ground 
immediately  fronting  the  ball.  If  the  ball  has  to  be 
raised  suddenly,  it  is  nearly  always  wiser  to  withstand 
the  temptation  to  try  a  wooden  club,  and  to  be  content 
with  a  cleek  or  an  iron.  If  there  is  no  necessity  to 
make  it  rise  at  once,  the  shot  is  not  nearly  so  difficult 
as  many  people  imagine.  If  the  club  is  allowed  to 
do  its  work  by  itself,  and  the  swing  kept  perfectly 
natural,  everything  should  go  well.  In  fact,  it  is 
best  not  to  think  too  much  of  the  difficulty  of  the  lie, 


THROUGH  THE  GREEN  313 

but  to  play  the  shot  easily  and  naturally,  letting  the 
club  follow  well  through  after  the  ball  is  hit.  The 
player  may  take  up  a  stance  rather  more  behind  the 
ball  than  usual,  that  is  to  say  with  the  left  foot 
approximately  in  a  line  with  the  ball,  as  the  further 
she  gets  behind  her  ball  the  more  quickly  she  will  be 
able  to  make  it  rise.  But  on  no  account  must  she  try 
to  force  the  shot  up  by  dropping  the  right  shoulder. 
As  was  said  before,  this  is  a  fatal  fault,  and  one  which 
invariably  leads  to  direful  consequences.  The  old 
links  at  Greenisland,  Co.  Antrim,  used  to  afford 
wonderfully  good  practice  for  the  playing  of  uprising 
and  hanging  lies.  The  course  ran  straight  up  the 
face  of  the  mountain,  zigzagged  a  little  at  the  highest 
level  to  which  it  ascended,  and  then  came  straight 
down  again.  The  members  of  the  club  became  very 
proficient  in  dealing  with  every  variety  of  queer  lie 
and  stance.  The  only  other  links  on  which  I  have 
played,  laid  out  on  similar  lines,  was  at  a  delightful 
little  place  in  North  Wales,  where  some  of  the  holes 
were  so  steep  that  it  was  killing  work  to  get  up  to  the 
greens,  and  a  golfer  with  a  bad  head  for  heights  might 
have  been  in  serious  danger  of  falling  off  some  of  the 
tees.  One  experiences  a  great  sense  of  power  in 
playing  straight  down  a  steep  hill,  but  the  balls 
frequently  do  not  travel  as  far  as  might  be  expected. 

A  club  which  comes  next  in  order  to  a  brassey,  and 
which  many  people  use  instead  of  a  cleek,  is  a  spoon, 
baffy,  or  toby — it  may  be  called  by  any  of  the  three 
names.  It  is  a  modified  brassey,  shorter  and  stiffer 
in  the  shaft,  and  with  the  face  more  laid  back.  It  is 


314    FROM  THE  LADIES*  POINT  OF  VIEW 

a  much  easier  club  to  play  with  than  a  cleek,  and  with 
it  the  balls  can  be  picked  up  out  of  quite  bad  lies. 
It  is  a  useful  club  to  have  in  one's  bag  for  occasional 
shots.  With  it  the  ball  runs  comparatively  little, 
and  pulls  up  much  more  suddenly  than  it  can  be 
made  to  do  with  a  cleek.  It  is  also  excellent  for  a 
push-shot  against  the  wind.  I  do  not  think,  however, 
that  it  really  takes  the  place  of  a  cleek,  and  I  strongly 
advise  the  beginner  who  wants  to  master  the  game 
to  learn  to  use  both  clubs.  The  swing  for  a  spoon 
shot  is  on  the  same  lines  as  that  for  a  brassey,  but 
slightly  curtailed.  The  stance  may  be  a  little  closer 
to  the  ball.  For  the  push-shot  against  the  wind  the 
wrists  are  kept  stiff  and  the  swing  is  taken  more 
round  the  shoulders. 

A  cleek  is  a  very  difficult  club  to  use  well.  It  is 
hard  to  understand  exactly  why  it  should  be  so, 
but  general  opinion  seems  agreed  on  the  point. 
Curiously  enough,  many  golfers  start  the  game  with  a 
cleek,  and  a  cleek  only,  and  get  on  splendidly,  but 
after  they  have  made  some  progress  with  other  clubs 
and  are  qualified  to  use  the  ordinary  bagful,  they  seem 
to  lose  their  skill  with  their  original  favourite.  This 
is,  in  fact,  quite  a  common  experience.  A  possible 
reason  why  cleek  play  presents  such  a  problem  may 
be  that,  although  there  are  many  thousands  of  such 
clubs  turned  out  of  the  workshops  each  year,  it  is  more 
difficult  to  find  a  cleek  to  suit  one  than  any  other  club. 
Miss  L.  Moore,  who  is  a  fine  cleek  player,  stated  in  a 
recent  article  that  she  purchased  eight  cleeks  before 
she  could  get  one  which  really  suited  her.  Now, 


THROUGH  THE  GREEN  315 

as  every  one  could  not  afford  to  be  so  lavish  in  making 
a  choice,  the  probability  is  that  many  people  have  to 
put  up  with  clubs  that  they  do  not  quite  like.  And 
of  all  the  hopeless  tasks  to  attempt  in  golf,  that  of 
trying  to  play  with  a  club  which,  to  use  a  north  of 
Ireland  expression,  one  has  l  taken  a  scunner  against/ 
is  the  most  hopeless. 

Miss  L.  Moore  is  one  of  the  few  leading  women  golfers 
who  use  the  overlapping  grip  for  all  their  shots.  She 
describes  her  methods  of  cleek  play  as  follows  :  '  I 
always  use  the  overlapping  grip  and  a  stance  which 
is  almost  square.  I  use  this  stance,  as  I  find  it  enables 
me  to  keep  the  ball  lower  than  with  an  open  stance. 
I  find  it  necessary  to  grip  rather  more  tightly  with 
the  cleek  than  with  other  clubs,  as  when  coming  into 
contact  with  the  turf  it  is  apt,  unless  firmly  held,  to 
turn  in  the  hands.  Then  I  swing  the  cleek  more  like 
a  driver  than  an  iron,  because  I  find  I  get  better 
results.  In  the  back  swing,  which  in  my  own  case  is 
rather  short,  the  left  hand  does  practically  all  the  work. 
But  in  the  down  swing  I  assert  the  right  hand  at  the 
moment  of  impact  of  club  and  ball  rather  more  than  I 
do  with  any  other  club.  The  shot  I  favour  most  is 
the  half -cleek  shot.  .  .  .  One  of  the  most  fatal  errors 
of  cleek  play,  and  an  error  which  is  most  easily  made, 
is  letting  the  body  come  through  too  soon.  I  am 
most  careful  to  start  the  hands  coming  through  first, 
the  body  being  held  back  as  long  as  possible.  By 
doing  this  I  get  more  power  into  the  shot,  and  much 
more  satisfaction  in  the  way  the  ball  leaves  the  club.' 
Miss  Moore  goes  on  to  say  that  the  faults  she  finds 


316    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

most  easy  to  commit  are  :  (1)  Not  keeping  the  head 
perfectly  stationary  in  the  backward  swing  of  the 
club,  and  so  pulling  the  body  off  the  ball ;  (2)  bending 
the  right  knee  in  the  up  swing,  and  by  this  destroying 
the  axis  on  which  the  swing  is  based,  and  also  not 
keeping  enough  weight  on  the  left  toe  at  the  top  of 
the  swing.' 

Among  other  expert  players  with  a  cleek  may  be 
mentioned  Miss  Dorothy  Campbell,  Miss  M.  E.  Stuart, 
and  Miss  Margaret  Curtis.  Miss  Cecil  Leitch  does  not 
use  this  club  at  all,  but  makes  a  mashie  iron  serve  the 
same  purpose.  Neither  does  she  approve  of  the  push 
cleek  shot  for  women,  a  shot  which  is  such  a  favourite 
among  men  players  of  to-day,  as  she  says  it  requires 
great  power  of  wrist  and  forearm.  I  do  not  quite 
agree  with  her  in  this  point,  as  the  push  cleek  is  a  very 
useful  stroke  against  wind,  and  strength  of  wrist  can 
be  augmented  by  practice.  Golf  undoubtedly  increases 
the  size  of  the  wrists  just  as  it  increases  the  size  of 
the  hands  and  feet.  Not  very  long  ago  an  article 
appeared  in  Fry's  Magazine  written  by  '  An  Oxford 
Blue,'  in  which  an  elaborate  table  was  compiled  of 
the  difference  between  the  physical  measurements  of 
the  perfectly  formed  woman,  and  of  a  prominent 
athletic  woman  of  the  day  of  the  same  height.  In 
this  the  wrist  measurement  of  the  perfect  woman  was 
given  as  six  and  a  half  inches  and  the  wrist  measure- 
ment of  the  athletic  woman  as  seven  inches.  No  doubt 
golf  is  one  of  the  athletic  exercises  which  produces 
this  result.  Indeed,  it  is  a  very  good  plan  for  those 
who  wish  to  improve  their  game,  and  for  those  who 


THROUGH  THE  GREEN  317 

cannot  obtain  regular  practice  on  the  links,  to  keep 
their  wrists  strong  and  supple  by  wrist  exercises. 
They  will  find  that  doing  so  materially  helps  their 
play.  The  wrists  have  such  an  important  function 
to  fulfil  in  golf,  that  it  is  essential  to  keep  them  in 
good  working  order.  But  this  is  digression,  for  after 
all  the  push  cleek  is  not  a  shot  for  a  beginner  to 
trouble  about ;  it  can  be  left  to  a  later  stage. 

For  ordinary  cleek  play  the  swing  is  merely  a 
reproduction  on  a  smaller  scale  of  that  used  with  a 
wooden  club.  As  a  cleek  is  usually  shorter  than  a 
driver  or  a  brassey,  the  player  must  stand  somewhat 
closer  to  the  ball,  and  rather  more  forward  of  it  than 
usual,  that  is,  with  the  right  foot  nearer  it.  The  left 
foot  may  be  withdrawn,  leaving  the  stance  rather 
open.  The  grip  must  be  firm  and  even,  thumbs 
round  the  shaft,  and  a  general  feeling  of  control 
should  be  experienced — control,  not  constraint,  as 
constraint  in  golf  is  always  bad.  A  controlled  swing 
means  one  held  within  bounds,  as  it  were,  a  swing  in 
which  the  player  never  lets  the  body,  arms,  or  club 
take  charge  of  the  proceedings,  but  keeps  them  all 
in  due  subjection  and  harmony.  A  constrained  swing 
means  an  unnatural  pose  of  body  and  arms  by  which 
the  player  is  cramped,  and  rendered  uncomfortable. 
All  authorities  on  golf  lay  great  stress  on  the  point 
that  the  swing  for  all  iron  clubs  should  be  comparatively 
slow.  This  reduction  in  the  pace  of  the  swing  conduces 
to  the  general  feeling  of  control,  and  is  very  important 
in  connection  with  cleek  play. 


CHAPTER  V 
APPROACH  PLAY 

A  MASHIE  is  either  the  joy  or  the  bane  of  a  golfer's 
existence.  A  good  mashie  player  loves  her  club  and 
uses  it  on  every  possible  occasion,  a  bad  mashie  player 
is  always  in  dread  of  committing  some  fearful  blunder 
and  avoids  the  risk  of  playing  with  the  club  whenever 
she  can.  There  are  various  kinds  of  mashies — deep- 
faced  clubs,  short-headed  clubs,  clubs  laid  back  at 
all  angles,  clubs  in  which  the  neck  of  the  shaft  turns 
with  a  kink,  straight-shafted  clubs,  socketless  clubs. 
All  have  their  good  points,  and  some  are  more  ap- 
propriate for  certain  shots  than  others.  Many  people 
carry  two  mashies,  one  for  fairly  long  approaches, 
the  other  for  little  chip-shots.  This  is  rather  a 
good  plan,  as  it  is  hard  to  get  sufficient  length  with 
a  mashie,  which  is  very  much  laid  back  in  the  face, 
and  yet  for  a  short  approach  this  extra  loft  is  very 
important.  Theoretically  it  is  a  bad  system  to  carry 
too  many  clubs,  but  in  practice,  after  some  proficiency 
has  been  attained,  it  is  hard  to  avoid  it.  One  may 
not  always  use  all  the  clubs  one  carries  in  a  round, 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  some  special  shot  may  present 
itself  to  which  one  club  and  one  club  only  is  suitable, 
and  if  that  club  is  not  at  hand  the  player  feels  very 

318 


APPROACH  PLAY  319 

much  at  a  loss.  For  instance,  in  iron  play  a  medium 
iron  fulfils  all  ordinary  requirements,  but  sometimes 
a  shot  occurs  of  somewhat  uncertain  distance,  too 
short  for  a  full  iron,  rather  long  for  a  half -iron.  Of 
course  every  one  will  say,  4  Why  not  take  a  three- 
quarter  iron  ? '  But  easier  than  a  three-quarter  shot 
is  the  full  shot  with  an  alternative  iron,  smaller  in  the 
head,  much  more  laid  back  in  the  face.  With  this 
one  can  hit  with  the  freedom  of  a  full  shot  and  yet 
depend  on  the  ball  stopping  fairly  dead  on  reaching 
the  ground.  These  niceties  of  distinction,  however, 
are  not  for  the  beginner,  so  we  need  not  spend  time 
over  them.  We  will  speak  of  play  with  the  medium 
mashie. 

I  do  not  think  that  a  full  swing  with  a  mashie  is 
ever  advisable  through  the  fairway,  although  it  is 
occasionally  to  be  seen.  In  a  bunker  a  full  swing  can 
be  very  effective  and  is  often  quite  the  right  thing, 
but  for  the  average  mashie  approach  a  half-swing  is 
all  that  is  necessary.  The  mashie  is  not  a  club  with 
which  one  should  force  a  shot.  If  there  is  any  doubt 
in  the  mind  of  the  player  as  to  her  power  of  reaching 
the  required  distance,  she  should  take  a  half-iron  or 
even  a  three-quarter  iron.  A  forced  mashie  shot 
nearly  always  comes  to  grief,  and  it  is  very  likely  to 
result  in  socketing,  an  evil  which  once  it  begins  is 
only  too  likely  to  go  on  indefinitely.  Socketing  is 
a  subject  to  which  we  must  return  later. 

It  is  quite  a  mistake  to  regard  the  attaining  of 
great  length  as  one  of  the  points  of  a  mashie.  One 
has  often  heard  people  boast  of  being  able  to  accom- 


320    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

plish  with  a  mashie  shots  for  which  others  find  it 
necessary  to  take  an  iron.  The  club  is  not  meant 
for  length,  but  for  accuracy.  With  a  tee-shot  one 
tries  for  length,  and  length  gained  is  a  decided 
advantage,  but  with  an  approach  shot  the  matter  is 
completely  different.  A  forced  mashie  is  not  the 
game.  Provided  that  the  ball  finishes  up  near  the 
hole,  it  is  immaterial  whether  the  stroke  has  been 
made  with  an  iron  or  a  mashie. 

There  are  three  very  distinct  ways  of  playing  mashie 
shots.  The  most  orthodox  method,  and  the  one 
adopted  by  the  largest  number  of  golfers,  is  to  play 
very  much  off  the  right  foot  with  an  open  stance  and 
with  the  ball  fairly  far  back.  In  contrast  with  this 
another  method  is  to  stand  very  much  behind  the  ball 
and  to  play  off  the  left  foot.  With  this  method  the 
left  knee  is  bent  and  the  right  leg  is  kept  stiff  and  is 
drawn  far  back  behind  the  left.  The  third  is  the 
square  stance.  There  are  of  course  many  other 
methods,  but  these  are  the  three  most  distinctive. 

Miss  Dorothy  Campbell  uses  a  moderately  open 
stance.  Miss  C.  Leitch  adopts  a  pronouncedly  open 
stance.  Miss  E.  C.  Nevile  plays  off  her  right  foot. 
In  fact,  nearly  all  the  prominent  women  golfers  of  the 
day  adopt  the  open  stance  to  a  greater  or  less  degree. 
I  have  seen  very  good  work  done  with  the  contrasted 
stance,  but  it  is  more  often  used  by  men  than  by 
women.  The  square  stance  will  commend  itself  to 
those  who  do  not  feel  comfortable  in  either  extreme 
position. 

Miss  Leitch  and  Mr.  Darwin  agree  that  the  nearer 


APPROACH  PLAY  321 

the  player  is  to  the  hole,  the  more  open  should  be  the 
stance,  as  more  control  can  be  gained  over  the  ball. 
The  advocates  of  the  contrary  style  declare  that  the 
further  you  get  behind  the  ball,  the  easier  it  is  to  raise 
it  suddenly  and  to  make  it  pull  up  quickly,  both 
very  valuable  points  in  approaching. 

Next  comes  the  question  of  grip.  For  those  who 
affect  the  interlocked  grip  very  little  change  is 
necessary,  no  matter  what  the  club  used,  the  only 
difference  being  that  the  club  may  be  held  short  or 
long  according  to  the  character  of  the  shot.  That  is 
to  say,  for  a  drive  the  club  may  be  held  nearly  at  the 
end  of  the  shaft,  and  for  a  putt  or  short  approach  the 
leather  is  gripped  further  down.  With  the  ordinary 
grip  a  good  many  differences  have  to  be  observed. 
Thus,  in  driving  the  club  is  held  much  more  in  the 
palm  of  the  hand  than  in  the  short  game ;  with  a 
mashie  or  a  putter  the  grip  is  principally  of  the  fingers. 
The  thumbs,  too,  change  their  position  according  to 
the  length  of  the  shot.  They  are  usually  round  the 
shaft  for  a  long  shot,  and  down  it  for  a  short  one. 
Again,  the  grip  may  be  tight  or  loose.  For  putting 
the  club  is  held  very  lightly  and  delicately,  for  iron 
play  it  is  gripped  firmly.  For  mashie  shots  a  medium 
grip  is  best,  but  it  is  well  to  remember  that  the  lighter 
the  grip  the  less  will  the  ball  run,  and  the  tighter  the 
grip  the  more  will  it  run.  For  a  very  short  chip  the 
grip  is  relaxed  a  shade  just  at  the  moment  of  hitting 
the  ball,  but  it  must  not  be  carried  to  excess,  and  it 
is  only  allowable  in  a  very  short  shot. 

For  a  long  mashie  approach  in  which  it  is  not 

x 


322    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

necessary  to  make  the  ball  pull  up  suddenly,  the  swing 
is  much  the  same  as  that  already  described  for  a  half- 
iron  shot.  When  the  shot  has  to  be  pitched  over 
some  hazard  close  to  the  green  and  comparatively 
little  run  is  wanted,  the  swing  is  more  abrupt.  That 
is  to  say,  the  club  is  taken  back  a  little  more  uprightly 
and  the  follow-through  is  checked,  the  club  being 
raised  in  the  air  instead  of  being  allowed  to  follow 
straight  out  in  the  ordinary  fashion.  The  finish  of 
this  abrupt  movement  should  be  that  the  club,  instead 
of  pointing  towards  the  ground,  will  point  straight  up 
towards  the  sky.  The  stroke  must  not  be  made  with 
very  loose  wrists,  although  it  may  be  easier  at  first 
to  manage  it  in  that  way.  The  wrists  must  be  kept 
firm.  Turf  should  be  taken,  as  the  more  upright 
swing  tends  to  this  result,  enabling  the  player,  as  it  does, 
to  cut  well  under  the  ball.  The  fault  which  it  is  most 
easy  to  commit  when  playing  this  shot  is  to  raise 
the  body  just  as  the  club  is  being  raised  in  the  follow- 
through.  The  player's  mind  being  full  of  the  idea 
that  the  club  must  be  picked  up  sharply  after  the 
ball  is  hit,  she  is  very  likely  to  jerk  her  head  back, 
and  so  raise  her  body  in  the  effort  to  accomplish  the 
picking  up  of  the  club.  It  is  a  fault  which  must  be 
strictly  guarded  against. 

When  the  ball  is  behind  a  bank,  or  when  for  any 
reason  it  is  wanted  to  rise  suddenly  to  a  fair  height 
and  pull  up  abruptly  on  touching  the  ground,  the  cut 
stroke  is  the  one  for  the  player  to  use.  This  stroke 
is  very  difficult  to  play  well,  but  it  is  well  worth 
cultivating.  It  is  invaluable  on  some  links,  and  no 


APPROACH  PLAY  323 

golfer  is  worthy  to  be  reckoned  a  first-class  player 
until  she  has  become  thoroughly  proficient  in  it.  A 
great  deal  can  be  learned  about  the  cut  stroke  by 
watching  professionals  play.  Most  of  them  use  it 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent  in  all  their  short  pitch 
approaches.  The  club  is  taken  out  rather  to  the 
right,  and  brought  in  again  somewhat  across  the  ball 
at  the  moment  of  hitting,  and  then  finishes  to  the  left. 
At  the  same  time  it  must  cut  well  under  the  ball. 
A  common  mistake  is  to  let  the  arms  go  too  far  away 
from  the  body,  the  swing  thus  becoming  jerky  and 
unbalanced.  Mr.  Darwin  suggests  for  the  mitigating 
of  this  tendency  that  the  stance  should  be  very  open, 
and  that  the  player  should  turn  the  face  of  her  club 
slightly  out  to  the  right.  This  attitude  will  make 
it  easy  and  natural  to  take  the  club  out  to  the  right, 
and  so  the  cross-cutting  action  will  follow  automati- 
cally with  very  little  deliberate  effort.  A  method 
which  I  have  found  efficacious  in  my  own  play,  but 
which  is  so  unorthodox  that  I  can  only  offer  it  as  a 
tentative  suggestion,  is  to  face  the  club  rather  down 
on  the  ball  before  making  the  shot.  I  cannot  explain 
why  this  should  be  helpful,  and  I  do  not  think  I  ever 
saw  any  one  else  use  the  same  method,  but  to  me 
undoubtedly  it  is  by  far  the  easiest  way  of  playing  a 
cut  stroke.  There  is  one  very  important  point  to 
remember  about  this  shot,  and  that  is  that  no  matter 
how  the  preliminaries  of  the  stroke  are  made,  the  swing 
itself  must  be  quick  and  firm.  A  wavering  uncertain 
motion  of  the  club  will  never  effect  the  desired  result. 
People  vary  very  much  in  their  methods  of 


324    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

approaching.  Some  use  a  mashie  up  to  the  very 
edge  of  the  green,  others  prefer  to  run  the  ball  up 
with  an  iron  or  wooden  putter.  The  little  chip-shots 
played  from  within  a  short  distance  of  the  hole  are 
usually  made  largely  with  the  wrists.  Miss  M.  A. 
Graham  plays  these  shots  beautifully.  It  is  delightful 
to  watch  her  style  of  approaching.  Whether  a  divot 
is  taken  with  these  shots,  or  whether  the  ball  is  picked 
up  clean,  depends  on  the  nature  of  the  lie.  With  an 
indifferent  lie  the  former  plan  is  adopted,  with  a  good 
lie,  the  latter.  The  ball  can  be  made  to  pitch  and 
run,  or  to  pitch  right  up  to  the  hole  and  drop  dead, 
as  the  player  desires.  Sometimes  one  shot  is  more 
suitable,  sometimes  the  other.  The  pitch  and  run  is 
accomplished  by  a  miniature  edition  of  the  swing 
for  an  ordinary  long  mashie  shot,  the  pitch  and  drop 
dead  by  the  cut-stroke  method.  Approaching  is  a 
branch  of  golf  which  can  be  brought  to  a  very  high 
standard  of  excellence.  A  finished  golfer  should  be 
able  to  lay  her  ball  within  possible  holing  distance 
every  time  she  makes  an  approach  from  within  fifty 
or  sixty  yards  of  the  green.  Sometimes,  of  course, 
she  will  get  the  ball  quite  close,  occasionally  she  will 
even  hole  out,  but  only  under  very  exceptional 
circumstances  should  she  fail  to  make  the  ball  stay 
within  five  or  six  yards  of  the  pin.  Practice  and 
practice  only  will  achieve  this,  and  the  beginner  should 
always  have  this  standard  in  view,  and  must  con- 
centrate all  her  energies  to  the  attaining  of  it. 

The  most  deadly  enemy  to  good  mashie  play  is 
that  dreadful  evil  which  goes  by  the  name  of  socketing. 


BBOWINU    HOW    KYK   SHOULD    BK    KEPT    ON    GROUND    AFTER    BALL 
IS    HIT    IN    AN    APPROACH 


(To  face  p.  826 


APPROACH  PLAY  325 

Socketing  is  enough  to  make  women  weep  and  strong 
men  tear  their  hair.  It  is  a  perfectly  maddening 
disease.  No  words  are  too  strong  to  paint  its  horrors. 
It  sometimes  comes  from  want  of  practice,  sometimes 
from  forcing,  sometimes  from  taking  the  eye  off 
the  ball,  sometimes  from  no  apparent  cause  at  all, 
but  whenever  it  comes  it  reduces  the  player  to  the 
last  degree  of  desperation.  And  when  one  fit  is 
cured,  the  uneasy  sensation  is  left  that  another  may 
be  in  prospect,  and  so  the  player  finds  it  very  hard 
to  recover  her  confidence.  Some  people  carry  a 
socketless  mashie  in  their  bag,  to  which  they  have 
recourse  when  the  first  symptoms  of  the  disease 
appear,  but  this  is  merely  a  '  sop  to  Cerberus/  and 
it  is  much  more  satisfactory  to  try  to  get  at  the  root 
of  the  evil  and  to  overcome  it. 

The  most  ordinary  faults  which  lead  to  socketing 
are  that  the  player  is  taking  her  club  back  too  fast, 
or  that  she  is  taking  her  eye  off  the  ball.  But  it  may 
also  be  that  the  club  is  being  taken  too  far  out  to  the 
right  and  brought  down  too  much  to  the  left,  so  that 
the  hands  are  allowed  to  come  forward  too  quickly. 
To  cure  this  latter  fault  the  arms  should  be  kept  well 
in  to  the  body,  the  left  elbow  in  particular  remaining 
close  to  the  side,  and  great  care  should  be  exercised 
to  see  that  the  wrists  are  turning  correctly.  The 
keeping  of  the  wrists  and  arms  stiff  may  be  helpful 
in  curing  socketing,  as  the  malady  occasionally  comes 
from  a  too  loose  use  of  the  wrists.  Miss  C.  Leitch 
in  her  book  on  golf  presents  the  following  infallible 
cure  to  her  readers :  '  Put  a  folded  handkerchief 


326    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

under  your  left  arm-pit,  and  you  will  not  socket  if 
the  handkerchief  remains  there  throughout  the  shot. 
The  cure,  of  course,  does  not  get  a  fair  trial  if  you  are 
standing  too  near  your  ball  or  falling  forward  on  to 
it,  because  your  weight  is  too  much  on  your  toes.' 


CHAPTER  VI 
IN  HAZARDS 

MOST  women  are  at  a  disadvantage,  as  compared 
with  men,  in  bunker  play  owing  to  their  lack  of 
strength.  I  do  not  mean  that  all  women  are  feeble 
creatures,  but  that  the  average  woman  in  comparison 
with  the  average  man  is  endowed  by  nature  with  less 
power  of  physique.  It  takes  a  very  considerable 
amount  of  strength  to  cause  the  explosion  which  Mr. 
Darwin  describes  as  necessary  to  eject  a  ball  deeply 
buried  in  sand.  Unfortunately,  very  few  women  know 
how  to  use  the  strength  they  do  possess  to  the  best 
advantage.  They  do  not  seem  to  realise  that  they 
should  put  every  ounce  they  can  into  a  niblick  shot. 
They  '  flop  '  at  the  ball  in  a  half-hearted  fashion,  and 
then  feel  aggrieved  because  it  refuses  to  budge  for 
such  inept  treatment.  It  has  to  be  allowed,  I  fear, 
that  most  women  golfers  are  singularly  ineffective 
out  of  a  sand  bunker.  Of  course  there  are  some 
brilliant  exceptions.  Of  these  Miss  Dorothy  Campbell 
and  Mrs.  Gibb,  better  known  to  golfers  as  Miss 
Titterton,  may  be  quoted  as  shining  examples.  I 
was  immensely  struck  with  Miss  Dorothy  Campbell's 
bunker  play  at  St.  Andrews  in  1908.  It  was  not  that 
she  attained  such  a  very  great  distance  out  of  the 

327 


328    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

several  hazards  into  which  bad  fortune  carried  her, 
but  that  she  was  so  absolutely  certain  of  getting  the 
ball  out  somewhere.  She  hit  very  hard,  and  evidently 
knew  exactly  the  amount  of  sand  which  it  was 
necessary  to  take  with  each  particular  stroke.  St. 
Andrews,  with  its  three  hundred  and  sixty -five  bunkers, 
struck  terror  into  the  hearts  of  those  who  competed  in 
the  open  ladies'  championship  that  year.  Bunkers  of 
every  conceivable  size,  shape,  and  form  had  to  be 
negotiated,  many  of  them  taking  that  most  hateful 
of  all  forms,  the  pot  bunkers,  so  small,  that  the  un- 
wary stranger  never  suspects  its  existence  until  she 
finds  her  ball  buried  in  its  innermost  depths.  The 
Swilcan  Burn  was  the  only  hazard  which  failed  to 
overawe  the  ladies.  Several  of  the  competitors, 
rather  than  waste  an  unnecessary  stroke,  descended 
boldly  into  its  chilly  depths  and  played  their  balls 
successfully  out  amidst  a  shower-bath  of  descending 
water  and  the  plaudits  of  the  delighted  crowd. 

Miss  Titterton,  as  she  was  when  she  won  that  tourna- 
ment, has  recently  written  an  article  on  niblick  play. 
In  it  she  gives  the  following  description  of  a  '  sledge- 
hammer '  shot  which  she  says  is  most  effective  in 
driving  the  ball  from  the  bottom  of  a  deep  pot  bunker  : 
4  It  is  by  no  means  a  pretty  shot,  for  the  club  must 
be  taken  up  almost  vertically  and  brought  down  like 
a  sledge  hammer  just  behind  the  ball.  Naturally 
there  is  no  follow-through,  for  the  head  is  buried  in 
the  sand,  the  ball,  however,  rises  to  a  considerable 
height,  which  is  what  is  wanted.  In  the  case  of  a 
good  lie  in  a  deep  bunker,  the  shot  may  be  played 


IN  HAZARDS  329 

in  a  modified  manner  which  is  difficult  to  explain, 
but  quite  a  useful  stroke  to  play  ;  it  is  almost  the  same 
as  the  sledge-hammer  shot  but  with  a  follow-through, 
the  club  practically  describing  a  U  as  it  descends  and 
rises.' 

Miss  Cecil  Leitch's  recipe  for  getting  out  of  heavy 
wet  sand  is,  4  To  turn  the  toe  of  the  club  out,  grip 
firmly  with  palm  grip,  and  swing  away  from  the  ball 
at  an  angle  of  about  forty-five  degrees,  and  then 
come  right  across  the  ball  from  right  to  left,  and  cut 
it  out  of  the  sand.' 

Bunkers  vary  very  much  on  different  links.  In 
some  the  sand  is  light  and  powdery,  in  others  wet  and 
heavy,  in  others  again  of  a  medium  consistency. 
The  way  to  play  the  shot  varies  with  the  character 
of  the  sand,  as  wet  and  heavy  sand  offers  much  more 
resistance  to  the  club  than  light  dry  sand.  As  will  be 
seen  in  one  of  the  preceding  chapters  in  this  book, 
Mr.  Darwin  recommends  a  niblick  with  a  very  strong 
stiff  shaft  and  broad  heavy  head,  liberally  dowered 
with  loft,  as  the  best  weapon  to  take  when  confronted 
with  a  ball  lying  badly  in  sand.  This  is  the  one 
club  a  woman  should  possess  for  the  quality  of 
weight.  As  a  rule  women  are  inclined  to  use  too 
heavy  clubs.  By  so  doing  they  tire  themselves  un- 
necessarily and  waste  a  great  deal  of  energy.  A 
niblick,  however,  is  quite  different  to  any  other  club, 
and  it  should  be  of  as  substantial  a  weight  as  the 
player  can  comfortably  wield.  It  is  not  meant  to  be 
used  to  propel  the  ball  a  long  distance,  but  it  is  meant 
to  cut  through  all  kinds  of  obstructions,  and  for  this 


330    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

latter  purpose  the  heavier  it  is  the  better.  It  has 
long  been  a  moot  point  in  my  mind  whether  it  is  better 
to  take  a  half  or  a  full  swing  with  a  niblick.  Recently 
I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  full  swing  is 
preferable.  It  seems  to  me  that  with  it  more  power 
is  gained,  and  there  is  not  so  much  likelihood  of  missing 
the  shot.  A  half-shot  to  be  effective  has  to  be  played 
perfectly,  and  a  half-shot  with  a  niblick  may  easily 
degenerate  into  a  weak  push.  This  weak  push  is 
only  too  often  exemplified  in  the  play  of  golfers  of 
both  sexes.  They  make  little  dabs  at  the  ball  in  the 
effort  to  get  it  out  of  a  difficulty,  which  are  absolutely 
futile  to  effect  the  purpose.  They  resemble  nothing 
so  much  as  the  tender-hearted  maiden  beating  her 
pet  dog  with  gentle  little  slaps,  and  crying,  '  0  you 
naughty  little  dog,  how  could  you  !  '  only  the  golfer 
seems  to  say,  '  0  you  horrid  little  ball,  why  will  you 
not  come  out  ?  '  If  the  maiden  and  the  golfer  each 
gave  one  good  hard  stroke,  the  effect  on  dog  and  ball 
would  be  decidedly  better. 

Too  much  stress  cannot  be  laid  upon  the  point  that 
the  sand  behind  the  ball  is  the  object  to  be  hit  at, 
not  the  ball  itself.  Only  practice  will  teach  the  player 
the  exact  distance  behind  at  which  to  aim  in  each 
particular  case,  as  the  surrounding  circumstances 
vary  with  each  shot,  but  it  may  be  given  as  a  general 
rule  that  it  is  better  to  take  too  much  sand  than 
too  little.  Mr.  Darwin's  description  of  the  4  explosion  ' 
necessary  to  eject  a  ball  is  very  graphic,  and  the  idea 
of  the  4  ensuing  commotion  hoisting  the  ball  more  or 
less  straight  up  into  the  air  '  appeals  to  the  imagination. 


IN  HAZARDS  331 

The  method  of  attack  is  very  similar  to  that  described 
by  Miss  Titterton  in  the  *  sledge-hammer '  shot. 
Both  make  a  great  point  of  the  up  and  down  character 
of  the  swing,  as  this  vertical  motion  tends  to  make 
the  ball  rise  more  suddenly.  The  straighter  the  swing, 
the  easier  it  is  to  get  under  the  ball. 

A  modicum  of  common-sense  will  be  of  more  assist- 
ance to  a  player  in  a  bunker,  provided  that  she  has 
grasped  the  two  great  elementary  facts  that  it  is  the 
sand  behind  the  ball,  and  not  the  ball  itself,  that  is 
to  be  struck,  and  that  the  swing  must  be  vertical,  than 
any  amount  of  theories.  A  very  prevalent  mistake 
is  to  play  the  shot  in  too  much  of  a  hurry.  Many 
people  are  so  annoyed  at  finding  their  ball  deeply 
imbedded,  that  they  make  up  their  minds  at  once 
that  the  matter  is  hopeless.  They  say,  '  Oh,  I  will 
just  have  one  shot  at  it,  and  see  what  happens/  without 
any  expectation  of  a  good  result.  They  then  take  a 
wild  hit,  embed  the  ball  still  further,  and  pick  up 
in  a  rage  or  resignation  according  to  their  disposition. 
Now  there  are  very  few  lies,  even  in  bunkers,  which 
are  quite  hopeless.  Before  attempting  a  shot  the 
player  should  study  the  ball  carefully.  She  should 
take  into  consideration  the  state  of  the  game,  she 
should  note  the  steepness  of  the  face  of  the  bunker, 
the  lie  of  the  surrounding  country,  the  length  still  to 
be  achieved  before  the  green  is  reached,  and  last,  but 
not  least,  the  consistency  of  the  sand.  It  will  depend 
on  all  these  things  how  much  or  how  little  should  be 
attempted.  The  first  point  to  be  remembered  is  not 
to  try  for  too  much,  to  be  satisfied  with  what  is  fairly 


332     FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

probable,  not  what  is  just  possible.  If  the  hole  is 
quite  near  at  hand,  and  if  a  straight  shot  is  feasible, 
a  straight  shot  should  be  tried.  But  if  a  straight  shot 
is  very  unlikely  to  succeed,  the  player  must  be  content 
to  get  out  to  either  side,  or  even  to  play  straight  back 
on  the  line  from  which  she  has  come,  rather  than  run 
the  risk  of  leaving  the  ball  still  in  sand  for  the 
subsequent  stroke.  If  the  green  is  still  some  distance 
away,  the  lie  of  the  ground  should  be  noted  with  a 
view  to  the  succeeding  shot.  A  sacrifice  of  direction 
in  the  first  instance  often  means  a  decided  gain  after- 
wards hi  the  ease  with  which  the  next  stroke  can  be 
accomplished.  The  quarter  from  which  the  wind  is 
blowing  also  affects  the  decision.  When  all  these 
points  have  been  thought  out  and  the  stance  taken 
up,  the  shot  should  be  played  deliberately.  Hit 
hard,  as  hard  as  you  can,  with  a  straight  up  and 
down  swing,  but  do  not  hurry.  Maintain  this 
deliberateness  in  all  bunker  shots,  even  when  the  ball 
is  lying  fairly  clean.  Hurry  is  fatal.  On  paper  it 
sounds  as  if  the  player  would  become  rather  a  nuisance 
if  she  paused  at  each  bunker  shot  to  think  out  all 
these  points.  But  with  experience  the  golfer  gains 
the  power  of  rapid  judgment,  and  the  habit  is  soon 
acquired  of  seeing  at  a  glance  the  best  tactics  to 
pursue. 

One  feels  a  delightful  sense  of  power  on  successfully 
making  a  long  shot  out  of  sand,  but  the  effort  to 
obtain  too  much  distance  is  the  source  of  many 
mistakes,  and  the  cause  of  many  a  spoiled  score  or 
lost  match.  It  is  never  well  to  be  greedy.  Safety 


BUNKER  SHOT 
MRS.  R.  A.  CRAMSIE 


[To  face  p.  332 


IN  HAZARDS  333 

lies  in  moderation.  A  medium-weight  iron  often 
proves  a  reliable  club  when  a  ball  is  lying  clean  in 
sand.  A  considerable  distance  can  be  reached  with 
it,  and  there  is  usually  sufficient  loft  on  the  face  to 
make  the  ball  rise  quickly.  A  cleek  may  be  used  with 
advantage  in  some  hazards,  but  it  is  not  a  really  safe 
club  to  take  in  sand,  as  with  it  the  player  is  very  likely 
to  fail  to  get  the  ball  away.  It  may  be  taken  as  a 
desperate  expedient  when  a  match  is  going  badly, 
and  the  only  chance  of  success  lies  in  the  forlorn  hope 
of  making  an  extraordinarily  long  and  good  recovery. 
But,  as  a  general  rule,  the  possible  gain  in  distance  is 
not  so  great  as  to  justify  running  the  increased  risk 
of  failure.  When  a  ball  is  lying  clear  in  sand,  the 
player  in  making  the  shot  should  fix  her  eye  on 
the  ball  itself,  and  not  on  the  sand  behind  it.  She 
need  not  take  any  sand  with  the  shot,  and  the 
endeavour  should  be  to  pick  up  the  ball  as  cleanly  as 
possible.  The  swing  may  be  a  shade  less  vertical. 
One  of  the  chief  differences  between  a  beginner  and 
an  experienced  golfer  lies  in  the  latter's  knowing  her 
limitations  and  using  her  clubs  accordingly,  while  the 
former  with  happy  optimism  tries  impossible  shots 
and  trusts  to  luck  to  carry  her  through.  When  the 
novice  has  learned  to  recognise  what  she  can  reason- 
ably hope  to  accomplish,  she  may  be  said  to  have 
passed  one  of  the  most  important  stages  of  her  novitiate. 
It  may  be  said  here  that  all  through  the  green  a 
great  deal  depends  on  the  exercise  of  judgment  in 
deciding  which  particular  club  to  use  for  each  particular 
shot.  Of  course,  in  numbers  of  cases  the  choice  is 


334    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

obvious,  but  in  many  others  it  is  very  difficult.  A 
good  caddie,  who  is  familiar  with  the  player's  ordinary 
game  and  knows  her  good  and  bad  points,  can  often 
give  very  helpful  advice.  The  question  to  be  decided 
may  be  the  possibility  of  reaching  the  distance  with 
a  certain  club,  or  the  picking  up  of  a  ball  out  of  a 
doubtful  lie  with  some  special  club,  or  the  chance  of 
carrying  a  distant  bunker  or  hazard,  or  any  other  of 
the  numerous  knotty  points  which  occur  so  frequently 
in  a  round,  and  which  add  so  much  to  the  interest  of 
the  game.  A  good  plan  to  follow  is  to  play  a  bold 
game  in  a  practice  round,  and  a  cautious  game  in  a 
match.  It  is  a  mistake  for  a  beginner  to  be  too 
4  canny/  as  she  may  cramp  her  play.  We  never 
know  what  we  can  do  until  we  try,  and  improvement 
without  running  risks  is  impossible. 

Bunkers  and  hazards  vary  very  much  on  different 
links.  On  some  the  hazards  are  quite  distinctive 
and  are  well  known  to  fame.  Such  are  the  Maiden  at 
Sandwich,  the  Water  Hole  at  Ranelagh,  the  Station- 
master's  Garden  at  St.  Andrews,  and  the  Crater  at 
Portrush.  To  negotiate  successfully  any  of  these  is 
a  feather  in  the  beginner's  cap. 

So  far,  we  have  only  dealt  particularly  with  sand 
bunkers  ;  we  now  turn  to  hazards  of  other  kinds.  The 
definition  of  a  hazard  in  the  rules  is,  '  any  bunker, 
water  (except  casual  water),  sand,  path,  road,  ditch, 
bush  or  rushes.'  In  the  same  paragraph  it  is  stated 
that  sand  blown  on  to  the  grass  or  sprinkled  on  the 
course  for  its  preservation,  bare  patches,  sheep  tracks, 
snow  and  ice  are  not  hazards.  The  beginner  will  do 


IN  HAZARDS  335 

well  to  study  Rule  25,  which  deals  with  what  a  player 
may  or  may  not  do  in  a  hazard.  The  most  important 
points  are,  that  nothing  may  be  done  which  can  in 
any  way  improve  the  lie  of  the  ball ;  that  the  club 
shall  not  touch  the  ground,  nor  shall  anything  be 
touched  or  moved,  before  the  player  strikes  at  the 
ball,  except  that  he  may  place  his  feet  firmly  on  the 
ground  for  the  purpose  of  taking  his  stance  ;  and  that 
in  addressing  the  ball,  or  in  the  backward  or  forward 
swing,  he  may  touch  any  grass,  bent,  bush  or  other 
growing  substance,  or  the  side  of  a  bunker,  wall, 
paling,  or  other  immovable  obstacle.  The  last  clause 
is  comparatively  modern  and  has  very  much  simplified 
bunker  play.  The  permission  to  ground  in  per- 
manent grass  in  a  hazard  has  been  deleted  from  the 
revised  rules. 

On  inland  links  trees,  ditches,  and  hedges  are  the 
commonest  hazards.  Trees  possess  a  horrible  fascina- 
tion for  many  golfers,  and  they  are  most  disastrous 
obstacles  to  contend  with,  as  if  a  ball  catches  a  tree 
it  may  rebound  off  the  trunk  or  branches  in  any 
direction.  The  best  advice  we  can  suggest  is  to  give 
them  as  wide  a  berth  as  possible.  But  if  the  player 
is  so  unfortunate  as  to  stymie  herself  with  a  tree, 
there  are  three  courses  for  her  to  adopt.  One  is  to 
loft  her  ball  right  over  the  top.  The  second  is  to  pilot 
it  skilfully  through  any  discernible  gap  in  the  branches. 
The  third  is  to  trample  on  her  pride  and  deliberately 
to  play  to  a  safe  point,  irrespective  of  the  direction  of 
the  hole.  The  second  course  is  the  most  difficult  and 
should  only  be  tried  on  very  rare  occasions.  Granted 


336    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

a  good  lie  and  that  the  ball  is  not  too  close  in  to  the 
tree,  the  first  is  fairly  easy  of  accomplishment.  But 
the  third  is  usually  the  most  discreet  way  out  of  the 
difficulty.  The  eighth  hole  on  the  links  of  the  Nice 
club  at  Cagnes  is  a  great  test  of  a  player's  nerve. 
There  is  quite  a  plantation  between  the  tee  and  green 
and  the  shot  has  to  be  played  most  skilfully.  As 
the  ball  can  be  teed  up,  the  high  shot  clearing  every- 
thing is  the  easiest  to  play,  but  it  leaves  the  ball  very 
much  at  the  mercy  of  the  wind,  and  the  scientific 
golfers  prefer  to  take  the  risk  of  playing  through  the 
branches.  The  big  tree  to  the  left  of  the  first  hole  at 
Ranelagh  used  to  be  a  terrible  stumbling-block  to 
many  of  the  competitors  at  the  annual  spring  meeting. 
It  was  very  depressing  to  start  a  medal  score  by 
planting  one's  first  tee-shot  into  the  middle  of  the 
branches,  and  it  was  very  humiliating  to  have  to  make 
one's  second  stroke  from  within  fifty  or  sixty  yards 
of  the  tee  and  the  assembled  multitude.  Those  who 
were  not  very  courageous  played  well  out  to  the 
right  and  were  content  to  reach  the  green  in  two, 
and  many  who  scorned  this  humbler  policy  were  led 
by  sad  results  to  wish  they  had  adopted  it. 

Hedges  are  very  nearly  as  objectionable  as  trees, 
but  they  are  not  so  frequently  to  be  encountered. 
If  the  ball  sticks  in  a  hedge,  a  hard  shot  with  a  niblick 
will  sometimes  dislodge  it  successfully. 

Ditches  vary  in  difficulty  according  to  their  depth, 
width,  and  the  character  of  the  bottom.  The  ball 
is  usually  lying  at  a  lower  level  than  the  player's 
stance,  hence  it  is  advisable  to  grip  the  club  low  down 


IN  HAZARDS  337 

on  the  leather,  and  to  get  well  down  to  the  shot,  taking 
care  to  cut  thoroughly  under  the  ball.  If  the  ditch 
is  very  deep  and  with  a  dry  bottom,  much  the  same 
sort  of  shot  can  be  used  as  that  described  for  a  ball 
buried  in  sand,  except  that  a  half-swing  can  be  taken 
more  effectively  in  a  ditch  than  in  sand.  When  the 
ball  is  lying  very  much  beneath  the  player,  a  full 
swing  is  apt  to  upset  the  balance.  A  firm  stance  is  a 
great  help.  Practically  all  the  advice  that  can  be 
given  as  to  the  nature  of  the  stance  is  confined  to 
4  Try  and  get  a  good  grip  of  the  ground/  as  the 
exigencies  of  the  position  usually  defy  orthodox 
methods.  On  some  links  a  special  local  rule  is 
framed  to  permit  of  the  ball  being  lifted,  under  a 
penalty  stroke,  out  of  a  watery  ditch.  But  if  this  is 
not  the  case,  the  ball  must  be  played  from  where  it 
lies,  or  rather  from  where  it  floats.  Even  when  such 
a  rule  exists  it  is  often  possible  to  save  the  penalty 
stroke  by  playing  the  ball,  and  judgment  must  be 
exercised  in  each  particular  case  as  to  whether  to  lift 
or  play.  It  is  not  very  difficult  to  hit  a  ball  in  water, 
if  one  can  get  a  fairly  good  stance.  The  chief  requisite 
is  courage.  It  takes  some  strength  of  mind  to  lay 
oneself  open  to  the  possibility  of  getting  splashed 
all  over  with  dirty  water,  but  if  the  player  will  hit 
boldly,  keeping  her  eye  firmly  fixed  on  the  ball,  and 
endeavouring  to  get  well  under  it,  she  will  generally 
find  that  she  can  get  the  ball  away  quite  well. 
Water  does  not  offer  nearly  the  same  resistance  to 
the  club  as  sand.  As  we  said  before,  several  of  the 
competitors  in  the  ladies'  championship  meeting  at 


338    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

St.  Andrews  showed  themselves  very  skilful  in  aquatic 
shots.  Miss  Titterton  laid  her  ball  dead  at  the  first 
hole  out  of  the  Swilcan  Burn,  having  profited  by 
the  example  of  her  opponent  on  the  preceding  day  ; 
and  Miss  C.  Leitch  made  a  beautiful  shot  out  of  water 
at  the  seventh  hole  in  the  semi-final  against  Miss 
Titterton,  and  was  bold  enough  to  take  a  spoon  to  do 
it  with.  Nevertheless,  a  spoon  is  not  to  be  recom- 
mended for  the  ordinary  golfer  for  such  a  shot,  an 
iron,  mashie,  or  niblick  being  a  much  safer  club 
to  use. 

A  road  is  a  hazard  occasionally  to  be  met  with. 
If  the  ball  is  kind  enough  to  stay  in  the  centre,  the 
shot  is  quite  a  simple  one,  and  may  be  played  after 
the  same  method  as  a  ball  lying  clean  in  sand.  If, 
however,  it  is  tucked  away  in  the  gutter  or  under 
the  bank,  a  decision  has  to  be  made  as  to  whether  it 
is  worth  risking  a  sideways  cut-shot,  or  whether  it 
would  not  be  more  discreet  simply  to  tap  the  ball 
out  into  the  middle  as  a  preliminary  to  an  attempt 
to  get  clear  away.  If  the  latter  course  is  chosen,  care 
must  be  exercised  to  play  the  tap  with  sufficient  force 
to  reach  the  desired  spot,  otherwise  the  stroke  will  be 
completely  wasted  by  the  ball  rolling  back  into  its 
original,  or  a  worse,  position.  The  cut-shot  may  be 
played  very  much  after  the  fashion  of  a  cut  approach, 
that  is  to  say,  the  club  should  be  drawn  slightly  across 
the  ball  from  right  to  left  at  the  moment  of  impact. 
This  will  make  it  rise  quickly.  A  shot  on  a  road  has 
nearly  always  to  be  taken  cleanly,  as  the  surface  of 
the  hazard  is  not  of  the  same  yielding  consistency  as 


IN  HAZARDS  339 

sand.  Hence,  the  eye  should  be  kept  on  the  ball, 
and  not  on  a  point  of  the  road  behind  it. 

Gorse  and  heather  are  very  frequently  to  be 
encountered,  and  they  make  very  formidable  hazards. 
It  is  much  more  difficult  for  women  than  for  men  to 
play  well  out  of  heather,  as  strength  is  of  the  utmost 
importance  in  making  such  a  shot.  Heather  roots 
are  very  tough,  and  they  are  very  likely  to  turn  the 
face  of  the  club  aside.  The  best  plan  is  to  grip  the 
club  very  firmly,  and  not  to  try  to  do  too  much. 
One  must  usually  be  content  with  getting  the  ball  out 
into  better  country  instead  of  endeavouring  to  get  a 
very  long  shot  away.  I  think  the  most  difficult 
'  rough  '  of  the  description  that  I  have  ever  experienced 
is  that  to  right  and  left  of  the  course  at  Ashdown 
Forest.  On  a  hot  day  it  is  perfectly  cruel. 

On  some  links  the  player  is  enabled  by  a  local  rule 
to  lift  out  of  gorse,  but  on  others  the  ball  must  be 
played  or  the  hole  given  up.  A  niblick  is  the  best 
club  to  choose  in  dealing  with  a  gorse  bush,  and  the 
player  must  take  up  a  firm  stance  regardless  of  the 
prickles.  As  in  sand,  she  should  put  all  her  available 
strength  into  the  shot,  trying,  if  the  ball  won't  come 
away  by  itself,  to  clear  the  gorse  bush  away  also. 
In  fact,  she  should  take  example  by  the  police  in  the 
late  suffragette  riots,  who,  when  a  suffragette  chained 
herself  to  a  tree  and  refused  to  budge,  uprooted  tree 
and  suffragette  together  and  carried  them  both  in 
triumph  to  the  lock-up. 


CHAPTER  VII 

MANY  INVENTIONS 

WE  have  discussed  the  uses  of  the  ordinary  clubs — 
driver,  brassey,  spoon,  cleek,  iron,  mashie,  niblick, 
and  putter — and  the  methods  of  play  that  should  be 
adopted  with  them.  We  now  turn  to  the  consideration 
of  fancy  clubs  and  of  play  of  a  more  advanced  kind, 
and  some  miscellaneous  matters.  There  is  an  endless 
variety  of  patent  clubs,  and  the  golfer  who  is  so 
disposed  can  fill  her  bag  with  all  sorts  of  queer  weapons. 
Some  people  scorn  innovations,  others  delight  in 
trying  every  new  invention  that  is  put  on  the  market. 
It  would  be  quite  impossible  to  describe  all  the  patent 
clubs  that  have  been  produced  from  time  to  time. 
We  shall  only  be  able  to  speak  of  a  few  which  can 
claim  to  possess  features  of  real  value.  From  the 
point  of  view  of  general  usefulness,  the  socketless 
clubs  come  first.  For  the  enlightenment  of  the 
uninitiated,  it  may  be  as  well  to  say  here  that  a 
socketless  club  has  no  heel,  the  shaft  rises  straight 
from  the  head.  As  we  said  before,  a  socketless  club 
is  only  a  palliative,  not  a  cure  for  socketing,  but  it 
is  undeniably  helpful  to  possess  one  of  these  weapons 
for  times  of  stress.  In  the  extreme  type  the  shaft  has 
a  sort  of  double  twist  in  the  neck.  It  is  hideously 


•  ••    i,    •     •  •••  »*•  !*•  !•  *  •   »'* 

5''  vK'f-:: 


BACK  SWING  FOR  DRIVE 

Miss  V.  HEZLET 

[See  page  279] 


[To  face  p.  340 


MANY  INVENTIONS  341 

ugly,  and  at  first  one's  pride  revolts  from  the  idea 
of  using  such  a  club,  but  there  can  be  no  question 
as  to  the  effectiveness  of  a  mashie  of  this  pattern. 
The  shot  may  not  always  be  successful,  and  the  ball 
may  trundle  along  the  ground  instead  of  rising  grace- 
fully into  the  air,  but  even  the  most  confirmed  socketer 
will  find  that  with  such  a  club  socketing  is  a  sheer 
impossibility.  A  little  coterie  of  golfers,  who  are 
great  advocates  of  this  pattern  of  club,  have  christened 
it  '  bottle-nose/  but  why  '  bottle-nose '  remains  a 
mystery.  The  catalogue  name  is  '  Smith's  Patent 
Mashie  Iron.'  A  special  point  of  advantage  in  the 
use  of  these  clubs  for  women  is  that  they  are 
particularly  good  for  a  long  mashie  shot,  such  a  shot 
as  would  be  apt  to  make  the  player  force  with  an 
ordinary  mashie.  The  balls  also  run  freely  off  them, 
as  the  face  is  not  very  much  laid  back. 

If  the  player  adopts  socketless  clubs,  she  will  have 
a  varied  choice  of  mashies  and  irons.  I  am  inclined 
to  think  that  with  them  it  is  more  difficult  to  get  the 
ball  up,  but  this  may  be  only  imagination  on  my  part. 
So  many  people  use  them  and  find  them  thoroughly 
satisfactory,  that  if  the  beginner  feels  any  leaning 
toward  them  she  may  indulge  her  fancy  without  any 
hesitation. 

Another  type  of  mashie  is  the  one  in  which  the 
face  is  deeply  scored  with  horizontal  lines.  These 
lines  are  supposed  to  put  cut  on  the  ball,  and  with 
some  people  such  a  club  seems  to  work  admirably ; 
but  one  never  feels  quite  sure  how  much  is  due  to  the 
club  and  how  much  to  the  player's  own  skill.  There 


342    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

is  also  the  mashie  with  a  hole  in  the  face  to  let  the 
sand  go  through,  and  yet  another  is  the  one  in  which 
the  weight  is  concentrated  in  the  centre  of  the  head. 
An  approaching  club  that  is  a  great  favourite  is  the 
one  called  a  '  jigger.'  It  is  generally  used  for  running  - 
up  shots.  The  jigger  has  a  long  narrow  head  and  the 
face  is  not  very  much  laid  back,  while  the  shaft  is 
short  and  stiff.  The  method  of  play  with  such  a 
club  is  practically  the  same  as  that  for  a  run-up 
approach  with  an  iron. 

Some  years  ago  aluminium  clubs  came  very  much 
into  vogue.  They  were  made  in  several  sizes  and 
shapes,  so  that  if  the  player  so  pleased  she  could 
replace  her  entire  stock  of  irons  with  them.  Mrs. 
Cuthell  used  to  use  these  clubs  with  deadly  effect, 
and  many  people  preferred  them  as  being  easier  to 
manipulate  than  the  ordinary  cleek  or  iron,  in  the 
point  of  picking  the  ball  up  from  a  doubtful  lie. 
They  also  possessed  the  great  advantage  of  being 
unbreakable.  Latterly  these  clubs  seem  to  have 
gone  out  of  fashion ;  why,  one  cannot  exactly  say. 
The  aluminium  clubs  most  frequently  to  be  seen 
nowadays  are  putters  and  spoons.  Mr.  Darwin 
advocates  the  aluminium  putter  as  the  putter  which 
should  be  first  given  to  the  beginner,  as  he  says  it  is 
the  club  which  is  most  likely  to  make  her  acquire  a 
smooth  and  even  manner  of  hitting  the  ball.  The  ball 
runs  much  more  freely  off  an  aluminium  putter  than 
off  an  iron  one,  and  for  this  reason  great  care  has  to  be 
exercised  that  the  ball  is  hit  absolutely  truly  and 
cleanly,  otherwise  it  will  jump  in  and  out  and  run  round 


MANY  INVENTIONS  343 

the  edges  of  the  hole  in  the  most  exasperating  manner. 
Many  people  use  an  aluminium  putter  for  long  putts, 
and  take  an  iron  putter  for  short  ones,  and  this  seems 
a  very  good  plan.  On  very  fast  greens  the  iron 
putter  is  preferable  for  all  putts. 

Before  we  leave  the  subject  of  putters  and  putting, 
it  may  be  as  well  to  say  a  word  or  two  about  stymies. 
No  player  can  be  considered  a  finished  golfer  who  is 
not  able  to  negotiate  the  ordinary  stymie.  Of  course, 
under  some  conditions  a  stymie  may  be  practically 
hopeless,  and  it  is  merely  a  fluke  if  the  player  should 
succeed  in  overcoming  it,  but  the  ordinary  stymie  is 
not  nearly  as  great  an  obstacle  as  many  people  seem 
to  imagine.  The  beginner  must  always  remember 
that  a  stymie  is  not  a  stymie  unless  the  balls  are  a 
greater  distance  apart  from  each  other  than  six  inches, 
measured  from  the  nearest  points,  as  if  they  are  within 
six  inches  she  can  have  the  obtruding  ball  removed. 
If  she  is  wise  she  will  have  six  inches  marked  off  on 
the  shaft  of  her  putter,  so  that  there  can  be  no 
question  when  the  case  arises  as  to  the  exact  distance. 

There  are  two  principal  methods  of  dealing  with 
stymies.  One,  to  loft  the  ball  over  the  obstruction ; 
the  other  to  screw  round  it.  The  first  is  the  more 
impressive  form  of  play.  The  successful  jumping  of 
a  stymie  always  produces  a  gasp  of  admiration  from 
the  onlookers,  and  the  player  pats  herself  on  the 
back  (metaphorically)  and  thinks  how  wonderfully 
clever  she  is.  When  the  balls  are  close  together  and 
the  hole  a  reasonable  distance  away,  the  shot  is  quite 
an  easy  one.  A  mashie  is  the  best  club  to  use,  and 


344    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

the  stroke  must  be  made  easily  and  naturally,  not  as 
if  a  special  effort  were  needed,  or  as  if  something 
extraordinary  had  to  be  accomplished.  The  loft  on 
the  club  will  do  the  work  quite  sufficiently  without 
any  necessity  for  trying  to  put  cut  on,  and  the  club 
should  be  taken  back  close  to  the  ground,  and  allowed 
to  follow  through  very  much  in  the  same  way  as  for 
a  putt.  The  most  difficult  stymie  is  the  one  where 
the  opponent's  ball  is  on  the  lip  of  the  hole,  or  a  few 
inches  away,  and  the  player's  ball  a  considerable 
distance  off.  Occasionally  the  ball  can  be  pitched 
right  into  the  hole  and  made  to  stay  there,  but  the 
difficulty  of  doing  this  increases  by  every  inch  that  the 
ball  is  further  away,  and  it  can  only  be  accomplished 
by  those  who  are  in  thorough  practice.  The  shot,  too, 
is  one  which  requires  a  great  deal  of  nerve. 

To  screw  round  a  stymie  is  slightly  more  difficult 
than  a  straightforward  jump,  because  so  much  depends 
on  the  nature  of  the  green.  The  slightest  amount  of 
favourable  fall  in  the  ground  will  make  a  great  differ- 
ence, and  the  slowness  or  keenness  of  the  green  also 
helps  or  hinders,  as  a  screw  has  more  effect  on  a  ball 
on  a  fast  green  than  on  a  slow  one.  To  pass  on  the 
left  side  of  a  ball  and  to  make  one's  own  ball  turn  to 
the  right  is  easier  than  to  have  to  make  the  stroke  in  a 
reverse  fashion.  An  iron  is  a  better  club  to  use  for 
screwing  than  an  ordinary  putter,  as  the  cut  will 
take  quicker  effect  from  an  iron  than  from  off  a  putter. 
The  stroke  is  made  by  turning  the  face  of  the  club  out 
a  little  to  the  right,  and  playing  across  the  line  from 
right  to  left  in  the  same  manner  as  that  described  for 


MANY  INVENTIONS  345 

a  cut  approach.  To  play  the  reverse  stroke,  and  to 
make  the  ball  turn  from  right  to  left,  the  ball  is  played 
off  the  extreme  point  of  the  toe  of  the  club,  and  an 
effort  must  be  made  to  pull  the  shot  by  turning  over 
the  right  wrist  more  pronouncedly  than  usual. 

A  half-stymie  can  often  be  turned  to  account  by 
making  the  one  ball  cannon  off  the  other  in  the  right 
direction,  but  the  thing  above  all  others  to  be  avoided 
is  the  risk  of  putting  the  opponent's  ball  into  the  hole. 
To  do  so  is  exasperating  to  the  last  degree.  People 
are  not  half  careful  enough  about  the  matter  of  laying 
themselves  stymies.  From  a  long  shot,  if  such  a 
misfortune  does  occur,  it  cannot  be  helped,  but  on 
the  green  there  is  no  excuse.  One  so  often  sees  holes 
thrown  away  in  this  fashion.  The  player  putts  short 
and  leaves  her  ball  directly  behind  the  other,  or  she 
overruns  the  hole  and  stymies  herself  on  the  other 
side.  It  is  a  contingency  which  should  always  be 
borne  in  mind  when  putting,  and  great  care  should  be 
taken  to  avoid  the  possibility  of  such  an  occurrence. 

A  recent  invention,  which  has  met  with  some  success, 
is  a  flat-shafted  driver  for  using  in  windy  weather. 
The  side  of  the  shaft  is  reduced  to  the  smallest  possible 
degree,  so  that  there  is  practically  nothing  to  offer 
resistance  to  the  wind  when  the  club  is  travelling  up 
and  down  in  the  course  of  the  swing.  We  have 
become  so  familiar  with  the  orthodox  rounded  shaft, 
that  such  an  innovation  as  a  flat  shaft  comes  upon  us 
with  something  of  a  shock.  Two  of  these  clubs  are 
in  the  possession  of  first-class  golfers  whom  I  know, 
and  both  the  owners  express  themselves  as  delighted 


346    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

with  the  results  attained  with  them.  If  a  flat-shafted 
driver  is  so  successful,  there  seems  no  reason  why 
other  clubs  should  not  be  made  after  the  same  pattern. 
Another  club  made  to  cheat  the  wind  is  a  driver  with 
a  double  bulge  on  the  face,  that  is  to  say,  the  face  is 
bulged  both  down  and  across.  The  idea  is  that  the 
ball  is  hit  with  the  centre  of  the  two  reverse  slopes, 
and  so  a  great  deal  of  spin  can  be  put  on  and  the  ball 
kept  low. 

One  of  the  greatest  difficulties  in  connection  with 
the  game  that  women  golfers  have  to  contend  with 
is  wind.  Men  do  not  realise  the  immense  pull  they 
have  in  bad  weather.  They  have  not  to  contend 
with  their  hats  and  their  hair  and  flapping  and  sodden 
skirts.  Between  the  physical  exhaustion  produced 
by  a  long  fight  against  a  strong  breeze,  and  the 
irritation  occasioned  by  a  wobbling  hat,  or  stray  locks 
of  hair,  or  a  skirt  which  will  flap  at  the  wrong  moment, 
the  woman  golfer  is  reduced  to  a  sorry  plight.  Of 
course,  people  will  say  that  before  she  starts  out, 
the  player  should  see  that  her  hat  is  firmly  tied  on, 
and  her  hair  netted  down,  and  her  skirt  properly  cut, 
so  that  none  of  these  annoyances  may  happen ;  but 
it  is  easier  said  than  done.  A  gusty  wind  defeats  all 
precautions,  and  hairpins  take  a  perverse  delight  in 
seeking  other  spheres.  The  recent  fashion  of  hobble 
skirts  proved  a  great  boon.  Hobble  skirts  may  not 
be  beautiful,  but  they  certainly  are  very  comfortable 
and  neat  for  golf,  when  worn  in  a  moderate  fashion. 
The  story  ran  that  some  ingenious  golfers  turned 
the  fashion  to  account,  and  had  their  skirts  made  the 


MANY  INVENTIONS  347 

exact  width  of  their  driving  stance.  Thus  they  were 
able  to  make  certain  on  every  tee  that  they  were 
adopting  the  right  attitude.  Although  the  hobble 
skirt  is  occasionally  caricatured  on  the  links,  it  is 
much  preferable  to  the  '  kicking  strap '  of  elastic 
which  has  been  so  widely  adopted  during  the  last  few 
years  to  restrain  the  superabundant  folds  of  the 
player's  skirts.  '  Kicking  straps '  and  crochet  caps 
may  alike  be  described  as  horrible  inventions  for 
destroying  and  distorting  feminine  attractiveness. 

Although  it  seems  almost  too  obvious  a  thing  to 
say,  the  chief  points  to  be  emphasised  in  regard  to 
playing  in  wind  are  to  make  the  best  use  of  a  favourable 
wind,  and  to  suffer  the  least  harm  from  an  unfavour- 
able wind.  Driving  down  wind  the  ball  should  be 
teed  high  and  the  swing  kept  rather  vertical,  so  as 
to  raise  the  ball  as  much  as  possible.  If  the  wind  is 
across  the  course,  calculation  must  be  made  as  to  its 
probable  effect  on  the  ball  (the  swagger  thing  is  to 
test  its  strength  with  a  gaily  coloured  pocket-hand- 
kerchief, the  more  gaudy  the  better),  and  the  shot 
played  accordingly.  It  is  also  wise  to  consider  in 
advance  how  the  ball  is  likely  to  lie  with  a  view  to  the 
succeeding  shot.  For  example,  in  approaching  with 
a  side  wind,  the  player  should  make  up  her  mind 
whether  she  prefers  to  putt  against  the  wind  or  with 
it,  and  she  should  play  her  approach  to  the  side  of 
the  green  which  suits  her  preference.  So,  too,  with  a 
following  wind,  she  can  play  to  be  over  the  hole  or 
short.  It  is  usually  easier  to  putt  against  a  strong 
wind  than  with  it,  as  one  can  hit  so  much  more  boldly. 


348     FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

But  as  the  nature  of  the  green  has  always  to  be  taken 
into  account,  it  is  impossible  to  generalise  on  the 
subject,  and  the  player  must  exercise  her  judgment 
in  each  particular  case. 

Against  the  wind  it  is  very  important  that  the 
player  should  not  try  to  hit  too  hard.  It  is  no  use 
forcing.  A  pressed  shot  is  very  apt  to  result  in 
dropping  the  right  shoulder  and  digging  the  club  into 
the  ground,  or  in  lurching  forward  with  the  body. 
Both  of  these  faults  are  fatal  to  success.  The  principal 
rule  to  be  observed  is  to  try  to  keep  the  ball  as  low  as 
possible,  unless,  of  course,  there  is  a  high  bunker 
within  range.  The  swing  should  be  more  deliberate 
than  in  calm  weather  and  somewhat  restrained. 
The  follow-through  also  must  be  kept  as  low  as 
possible,  the  arms  finishing  up  below  and  round  the 
left  shoulder.  A  firm  stance  is  a  great  help.  It  is 
impossible  to  make  a  good  shot  with  an  unsteady 
stance.  One  often  sees  people  wobbling  about  on 
their  feet  in  wind,  and  hitting  away  without  waiting 
to  make  sure  of  their  balance.  A  great  deal  can  be 
gained  by  judicious  timing  of  the  stroke,  and  taking 
advantage  of  every  slight  lull.  A  pause  of  even  a 
few  seconds  will  often  make  a  difference  in  strong 
gusty  winds,  and  will  enable  the  player  to  hit  the 
ball  with  comparative  comfort.  A  great  many  good 
golfers  play  for  a  pull  against  a  wind,  as  a  pulled  ball 
usually  travels  further.  The  way  to  do  this  is  to 
advance  the  left  foot  further  forward  than  for  the 
ordinary  stance,  and  to  make  the  left  hand  the  master 
grip.  It  is  not  desirable,  however,  for  the  beginner 


MANY  INVENTIONS  349 

to  be  in  a  hurry  to  experiment  with  this  shot,  as  she 
may  very  easily  acquire  the  habit  of  pulling,  and  the 
habit  may  degenerate  into  a  serious  fault.  One  of  the 
most  frequent  causes  of  excessive  pulling  is  hitting 
too  hard.  Another  is  turning  over  the  right  wrist 
too  soon  and  too  much.  A  third  is  clutching  at  the 
club  with  the  left  hand  instead  of  maintaining  an  even 
steady  grip.  This  last  fault  is,  as  a  rule,  more  common 
in  iron  play  than  in  wooden  club  play.  It  is  a  difficult 
one  to  overcome,  and  can  only  be  cured  by  constant 
watchfulness.  The  best  plan  is  for  the  player  to 
remember  to  say  to  herself  each  time  before  she  tries 
to  hit  the  ball,  '  I  will  not  clutch/  ' 1  will  not  clutch.' 
But  it  is  only  those  who  take  the  game  very  seriously 
who  may  be  expected  to  school  themselves  in  this 
deliberate  way.  It  is  well  to  remember,  when 
calculating  the  probable  effect  of  the  wind  on  a  ball, 
that  a  shot  from  an  iron  club  is  not,  as  a  rule,  nearly 
so  much  affected  as  a  shot  from  a  wooden  club.  A 
very  common  mistake,  particularly  in  reference  to 
the  short  game,  is  underrating  the  holding  power  of 
the  wind.  The  player  must  have  the  strength  of 
mind  to  hit  boldly.  It  does  not  in  the  least  matter 
if  one  goes  a  little  bit  too  far,  but  it  does  matter  very 
much  to  be  hopelessly  short,  as  in  a  very  large  pro- 
portion of  cases  happens.  Not  only  is  a  stroke  wasted, 
but  the  annoyance  of  being  so  short  has  a  demoralising 
effect  on  the  player's  temper. 

It  is  a  mere  commonplace  to  say  that  golf  is  largely 
a  matter  of  temperament,  as  every  one  has  long 
recognised  the  fact.  It  has  been  pointed  out  over 


350    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

and  over  again.  The  stolid  unemotional  player  has  a 
great  advantage  over  one  who  is  jumpy  and  excitable. 
The  former  bears  bad  luck  and  good  luck  with  equal 
imperturbability,  and  regards  the  vagaries  of  her 
opponents  with  calm  indifference ;  the  latter  always 
gets  flurried  at  the  wrong  moment  and  is  fussed  by 
the  least  thing.  The  beginner  will  be  wise  to  deter- 
mine from  the  very  start  that  she  will  not  allow  herself 
to  be  put  off  by  anything  short  of  an  earthquake  or 
a  thunderbolt.  It  is  all  a  matter  of  habit.  The 
habit  of  being  easily  fussed  grows  dreadfully.  At 
first  it  is  to  a  great  extent  imagination  with  fidgety 
people  that  they  cannot  play  because  some  one  stands 
within  their  range  of  vision,  or  a  slight  movement  is 
made  by  some  one  standing  near,  or  some  one  gives 
vent  to  a  suppressed  cough  when  they  are  in  the  act 
of  hitting,  or  a  dog  bolts  across  the  course  in  front  of 
the  tee,  or  a  caddie  looks  at  them  too  fixedly,  or  one 
of  the  hundred  other  trifles  occur  of  which  we  hear 
nervy  golfers  so  often  complain.  But  eventually  the 
fancy  that  they  are  put  off  by  these  trifles  becomes  so 
fixed  and  so  strong  that  their  game  really  suffers. 
Untoward  things  will  happen,  and  happen,  too,  at  the 
most  inconvenient  moments,  but  the  only  way  is  to 
make  the  best  of  things,  to  keep  a  calm  '  sough  '  as 
they  say  in  Scotland,  and  to  cultivate  a  sense  of 
humour. 

From  the  woman's  point  of  view  a  very  important 
subject  in  connection  with  golf  is  that  of  clothes. 
There  has  been  a  very  great  change  in  the  general 
appearance  of  women  golfers  during  recent  years. 


MANY  INVENTIONS  351 

When  the  game  was  still  in  its  infancy  any  clothes 
were  thought  good  enough  for  the  links,  and  comfort 
and  smartness  were  believed  to  be  incompatible. 
Extraordinary  figures  of  fun  appeared,  and  the 
papers  revelled  in  caricaturing  the  golfing  girl.  Now 
it  is  the  exception  to  see  any  one  unsuitably  attired. 
Women  have  realised  the  fact  that  they  must  have  a 
separate  outfit  for  the  game,  that  shabby  best  clothes 
cannot  be  cut  down  or  adapted.  The  most  difficult 
part  of  the  tout  ensemble  to  arrange  satisfactorily  is 
headgear.  Considering  the  multitude  of  hats  and 
caps  that  appear  in  the  shops  each  year,  it  is  extra- 
ordinary how  hard  it  is  to  find  any  that  are  suitable 
and  comfortable  for  golf.  The  crochet  cap  now 
seems  ubiquitous  for  bad  weather.  Some  years  ago 
motor  caps  were  all  the  rage,  a  little  later  tweed 
hats,  more  recently  still  small  felt  and  beaver  hats. 
These  latter  stay  on  splendidly,  and  when  worn  in  a 
shade  to  match  or  contrast  with  jersey  and  skirt 
look  extremely  smart.  The  worst  problem  is  to  get 
a  hat  for  fine  weather,  one  that  will  shade  the  eyes 
from  the  glare  of  the  sun  and  yet  stay  on  well  enough 
to  resist  the  onslaught  of  a  sudden  breeze.  The 
brim  of  such  a  hat  must  not  be  too  deep  at  the  back, 
because  if  it  is,  the  club  is  very  likely  to  strike  against 
it  at  the  top  of  the  swing,  and  so  the  shot  is  spoiled. 
A  wide  hat  can  always  be  tied  on  with  a  motor  veil 
or  piece  of  ribbon,  but  such  tying  on  somewhat  inter- 
feres with  comfort  and  freedom.  It  also  makes  the 
player  hot.  A  few  girls  play  bareheaded,  but  only 
those  who  are  very  impervious  to  the  heat  of  the 


352     FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

sun's  rays  can  afford  to  do  this  without  risking  the 
chance  of  sunstroke  or  headache. 

The  recognised  garb  for  the  links  is  a  blouse  of  silk, 
flannel  or  cotton,  tweed  or  serge  skirt,  coat  to  match, 
or  woollen  or  silk  jersey,  neat  stockings  of  either  con- 
trasting or  harmonising  shade,  and  thick  shoes  with 
square  heels.  The  most  comfortable  collars  for  blouses 
are  turned-down  soft  collars  of  the  same  material,  or 
those  of  Peter  Pan  fashion  made  in  embroidery  or 
lace.  A  starched  linen  collar  looks  smart,  but  it  is 
apt  to  hurt  one's  neck,  and  also  encourages  that  high- 
water  mark  of  sunburn  which  women  have  to  fight 
so  strenuously  against  when  they  wish  to  don  even- 
ing dress  on  coming  home  from  a  day  on  the  links. 
A  heavy  narrow  skirt  is  the  most  suitable,  one  that 
will  not  blow  about  readily.  Very  light  clothes,  such 
as  cotton  frocks,  are  out  of  place  on  the  links,  as 
if  the  course  is  of  at  all  a  hilly  character  there  is 
bound  to  be  some  slight  wind.  A  fairly  short  skirt 
looks  neater  than  a  long  one,  as,  in  wet  weather 
especially,  a  long  skirt  is  apt  to  get  a  draggled  appear- 
ance after  the  player  has  struggled  through  several 
sand  bunkers.  Many  people  cannot  play  without  some 
sort  of  coat  or  jersey  on  account  of  overs  winging. 
In  hot  weather  such  folk  are  placed  at  a  great  dis- 
advantage, and  they  have  to  decide  which  is  the 
lesser  evil,  to  roast  and  be  sure  of  their  game,  or 
to  be  cool  and  uncertain  as  to  their  play.  A  woolly 
coat  or  jersey  exercises  less  restraint  than  a  tweed 
or  serge  coat,  and  nowadays  one  can  get  such  light- 
weight jerseys,  that  the  wearer  suffers  very  little  incon- 


MANY  INVENTIONS  353 

venience  from  them  even  in  warm  weather.    The  ladies' 
championship  meetings  are  the  occasions  for  finding 
out  the  fashions  in  golfing  stockings.     Last  year  the 
variety   of   hue   and   pattern   was   simply   amazing. 
Most  people  kept  to  moderate  colours  for  their  prin- 
cipal garments,  but  they  seemed  to  launch  out  with- 
out any  hesitation  into  the  most  brilliant  stockings. 
It  is  very  important  to  have  nice  footgear  on  the 
links,  as  the  feet  are  so  much  en  evidence.    Shoes  or 
boots  can  be  worn  according  to  preference.    In  very 
wet   weather    boots    afford   greater    protection,    but 
they  are  more  tiring  to  wear  than  shoes,  and  as  com- 
pletely waterproof  footgear  is  almost  impossible  to 
obtain,  and  the  player  must  change  whichever  she 
wears  on  coming  in,  it  does  not  make  much  difference. 
Fringed  tongues  are  good  things  with  shoes,  as  they 
keep  the  water  from  soaking  in  through  the  aperture 
for  the  laces.     In  wet  weather  the  only  way  one  can 
get  a  good  grip  of  the  ground  is  to  wear  nails.    On  fine 
days  Scaife's  patent  soles  or  the  big  indiarubber  rings 
are  preferable,  as  they  are  much  less  tiring.    In  wet 
weather  rubber  slips.    Some  people  use  tennis  shoes, 
but  to  my  mind  the  absence  of  heel  is  a  very  great 
drawback.    It  is  a  very  good  plan  to  wear  an  ordinary 
pair  of  shoes  up  to  the  club-house,  and  only  to  change 
into  golfing  shoes  immediately  before  playing,  chang- 
ing again  directly  the  round  is  finished.     By  so  doing 
a  great  deal  of  wear  and  tear  of  the  feet  is  saved. 
While  speaking  about  changing,  it  may  be  as  well  to 
say  a  word  about  the  great  desirability  of  girls  taking 
a  complete  change  with  them  whenever  they  go  out 

z 


354    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

for  a  day's  golf,  no  matter  what  the  appearance  of  the 
weather  when  they  leave  home.  It  is  a  great  bore 
sometimes  to  have  to  carry  a  change  and  a  bag  of 
clubs,  but  to  do  so  is  very  essential  for  the  avoidance 
of  chills  and  colds.  For  a  player  to  sit  about  in  wet 
clothes,  or  to  travel  home  by  train  or  motor  in 
drenched  garments,  is  most  dangerous.  Chills  are  the 
foundation  of  nearly  all  serious  illness,  and  although 
we  cannot  always  prevent  the  catching  of  a  chill,  we 
can  do  a  great  deal  by  taking  reasonable  precautions 
to  lessen  the  possibility. 

Some  people  play  in  gloves,  others  do  not.  The 
latter  maintain  they  can  get  a  better  grip  of  the 
club.  So  many  people,  however,  do  use  gloves,  that 
it  is  very  evident  quite  a  good  enough  grip  can  be 
obtained  with  them,  and  any  one  who  has  the  smallest 
respect  for  her  hands  will  wear  them.  The  gloves 
should  be  loose  and  not  of  too  thick  a  make.  Chamois 
and  kid  are  the  most  generally  used.  The  great 
thing  is  to  try  to  avoid  blistering.  Salt  and  water 
or  eau  de  cologne  can  be  rubbed  on  the  hands  to 
harden  them.  If  blisters  are  badly  broken,  and  yet 
the  player  must  go  on  playing,  the  best  thing  to 
do  is  to  apply  strips  of  sticking  plaster.  Personally, 
I  have  always  found  glymiel  jelly  the  most  effective 
stuff  to  use  for  the  hands,  both  to  prevent  blistering 
and  to  heal  blisters.  Many  girls  who  play  much 
suffer  from  weak  or  strained  wrists.  For  this  complaint 
a  silk  handkerchief  bound  tightly  round,  or  a  leather 
strap  worn  constantly,  will  be  found  a  great  help. 


MISS  RAVENSCROFT 
Open  Lady  Champion,  1912 


[To  face  p.  856 


CHAPTER   VIII 
THE  LITTLE  THINGS  THAT  MATTER 

DESPITE  the  disparaging  remarks  that  appear  from 
time  to  time  about  women's  golf  from  the  pens  of  men 
writers,  mixed  foursomes  are  universally  popular. 
The  foursome  game  is  very  different  from  the  single 
game.  In  a  foursome  neither  player  has  the  right  to 
play  according  to  his  or  her  own  sweet  will.  Each 
should  consult  with  the  other  as  to  the  course  to  take 
in  a  difficult  shot,  and  the  weaker  player  should  submit 
to  the  judgment  of  the  stronger.  Some  men  like  a 
partner  who  will  simply  putt  the  ball  along  into  good 
lies  out  of  which  they  can  do  all  the  work.  Others 
prefer  some  one  who  will  take  her  fair  share  of  the 
game.  Some  like  to  give  instruction  at  every  point, 
others  only  advise  when  appealed  to.  Some  have 
unlimited  confidence  in  their  partner's  capacities, 
others  are  always  doubtful.  It  is  simply  a  matter  of 
disposition.  Success  depends  largely  upon  the  exer- 
cise of  judgment.  Before  starting  off  for  a  round,  the 
holes  should  be  thought  out  and  the  drives  arranged 
so  that  the  weaker  player  will  have  the  easiest  shots. 
At  some  of  the  holes  perhaps  the  second  shots  are 
more  important ;  if  so,  this  must  be  taken  into 
consideration.  The  great  thing  in  a  foursome  is  not 

355 


356    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

to  fuss.  It  only  distracts  one's  partner  and  very 
probably  puts  one  or  both  off  their  game.  If  a  shot 
or  two  is  missed  at  the  beginning,  it  is  better  to  show 
a  cheerful  and  hopeful  spirit  and  to  look  forward 
with  an  encouraging  optimism.  Every  one  will  play 
better  when  encouraged,  no  one  can  play  well  if 
scolded  or  scowled  at.  The  secret  of  all  pleasant 
foursome  play  is  to  realise  one's  own  faults  and 
failings,  and  to  turn  the  blind  eye  to  those  of  one's 
partner. 

The  golfer  who  has  a  real  love  of  the  game  will 
give  some  thought  to  the  care  of  her  clubs.  If  clubs 
are  properly  looked  after  they  will  last  much  longer 
and  be  more  satisfactory  in  many  ways.  Small 
repairs,  such  as  the  renewing  of  grips  and  the  re- 
fastening  of  bindings,  should  be  seen  to  at  once. 
Periodically  it  is  wise  to  revarnish  the  heads  of 
wooden  clubs,  as  otherwise  they  are  apt  to  become 
dry  and  brittle.  After  a  round  in  wet  weather  each 
club  should  be  taken  out  separately,  dried  and  oiled, 
and  only  replaced  in  the  bag  when  the  latter  itself 
has  been  thoroughly  dried.  A  waterproof  bag  with  a 
hood  wilLbe  found  a  great  protection  for  the  clubs 
of  those  who  play  golf  in  all  kinds  of  weather.  Some 
people  carry  two  umbrellas,  one  for  their  own  use, 
the  other  for  the  caddie  to  hold  over  his  precious 
burden  of  clubs.  A  little  chalk  rubbed  on  the  faces 
of  wooden  clubs  will  be  found  to  be  an  advantage  in 
very  wet  weather,  as  it  makes  them  less  slippery  and 
enables  them  to  get  a  more  certain  grip  of  the  ball. 
It  is  very  important  to  keep  the  handles  dry,  as  the 


THE  LITTLE  THINGS  THAT  MATTER    357 

club  is  so  likely  to  turn  in  one's  hand  when  the  grip 
is  wet.  Although  rubber  and  kid  grips  are  very 
comfortable  to  hold  and  are  used  by  many,  they  are 
not  satisfactory  in  wet  weather,  and  the  ordinary 
leather  grip  is  much  the  most  serviceable  one  for  all- 
round  work.  It  is  prudent  to  carry  two  or  three  pairs 
of  gloves  if  the  match  is  an  important  one,  as  wet 
clinging  gloves  are  most  uncomfortable,  and  it  is 
quite  hopeless  to  try  to  play  in  them.  A  dry  pair  of 
gloves  may  make  all  the  difference  between  success  and 
failure.  I  remember  being  very  nearly  thrown  out 
altogether  at  one  of  the  championship  meetings  for 
want  of  a  second  pair  of  gloves.  My  hands  had  been 
very  sore  and  blistered,  and  some  one  told  me  to  rub 
soap  on  them  before  I  started  out  to  play.  This  I 
did,  but  without  knowing  that  the  soap  should  have 
been  absolutely  dry.  The  consequence  was  that 
both  my  hands  and  gloves  became  so  sticky  and 
slippery  that  I  simply  could  not  hold  the  club.  If 
some  one  had  not  come  to  the  rescue  and  lent  me  a 
pair  of  fresh  gloves,  I  should  have  come  badly  to 
grief. 

If  clubs  are  not  wanted  for  use  for  any  considerable 
time,  they  should  be  carefully  oiled  and  kept  in  a  dry 
place.  There  is  a  theory  that  wooden  clubs  lose  their 
driving  power  after  some  years  and  that  they  should 
be  changed  from  time  to  time,  but  it  is  always  hard 
to  make  up  one's  mind  to  part  with  an  old  favourite 
which  has  done  good  service,  especially  as  it  usually 
takes  some  little  time  to  get  thoroughly  accustomed 
to  a  new  club.  Those  who  take  part  in  important 

z2 


358    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

matches  and  championships  should  always  carry 
duplicate  wooden  clubs,  as  an  accident  may  so  very 
easily  happen.  Miss  Leitch  broke  a  brassey  in  her 
match  against  Miss  Titterton  at  the  1908  championship, 
and  suffered  greatly  from  the  loss  of  it.  Indeed,  if 
the  break  had  not  occurred,  the  issue  of  that  champion- 
ship might  easily  have  been  different,  and  certainly 
Miss  Leitch  has  never  been  so  near  to  gaining  the 
chief  honours  as  she  was  on  that  day.  An  iron  shaft, 
too,  is  very  liable  to  snap,  and  so,  if  possible,  and  if 
the  player  is  not  in  fear  of  the  Cruelty  to  Caddies 
Society,  a  spare  iron  should  also  be  carried.  Another 
item  of  golfing  paraphernalia  which  may  be  of  great 
use  is  a  sponge  in  an  indiarubber  or  metal  case. 
On  muddy  inland  links  where  a  local  rule  permits 
the  player  to  lift  and  clean  her  ball  before  putting, 
a  sponge  is  practically  an  essential.  It  is  impossible 
to  putt  with  any  accuracy  when  a  lump  of  mud  dis- 
figures the  symmetry  of  one  side  of  the  ball. 

It  is  an  excellent  plan  to  have  the  player's  initials 
stamped  on  all  her  clubs.  This  can  be  done  in  nearly 
all  the  clubmaker's  shops  on  payment  of  a  very 
moderate  fee,  and  it  is  of  the  greatest  service  if  by 
any  chance  the  club  gets  adrift  from  its  owner.  It 
can  be  identified  at  once  by  the  initials,  and  a  great 
deal  of  worry  and  trouble  saved.  A  putter  especially 
is  very  likely  to  get  mislaid  or  mixed  up  with  other 
people's  clubs,  as  the  player  in  the  excitement  of 
finishing  a  match  often  forgets  to  give  it  to  her 
caddie,  and  carries  it  away  with  her  unconsciously 
as  she  leaves  the  green,  She  then  lays  it  down  in 


THE  LITTLE  THINGS  THAT  MATTER    359 

some  part  of  the  club-house,  and  promptly  forgets 
all  about  it  until  the  next  morning  when,  if  she  is  a 
careful  player,  she  is  looking  at  her  clubs  preparatory 
to  the  day's  play.  If  she  is  not  a  careful  person,  the 
loss  may  not  be  discovered  until  the  first  green,  when 
a  flying  emissary  has  to  be  sent  back  to  the  club 
to  look  for  the  missing  article.  If  the  club  is  not 
initialled  or  marked  in  some  special  fashion,  it  is  very 
difficult  for  this  emissary  to  recognise  it,  and  pick 
it  out  from  among  other  stray  clubs.  For  those  who 
travel  much  from  meeting  to  meeting  a  canvas  or 
leather  golf  box  is  a  most  useful  possession.  Such  a 
golf  box  can  be  sent  in  the  van  with  the  rest  of  the 
luggage,  and  in  it  the  clubs  are  far  safer  and  better 
protected  than  in  an  ordinary  bag.  Another  great 
advantage  of  such  a  box  is  that  it  holds  balls,  gloves, 
umbrellas,  pair  of  golf  shoes  and  all  golfing  necessaries, 
so  that  on  arriving  at  one's  destination  everything  is 
at  hand  together,  and  one  has  not  to  search  out  the 
different  articles  from  the  recesses  of  a  trunk. 

The  question  as  to  whether  golf  is  an  expensive 
game  has  been  much  discussed.  The  matter  depends 
very  largely  on  circumstances.  If  a  girl  lives  close  to 
a  links  and  does  not  go  about  much  from  meeting  to 
meeting,  she  need  spend  very  little.  If,  however, 
she  lives  some  distance  away  from  a  course,  and 
plays  in  championships  and  other  meetings,  and 
travels  here  and  there  for  team  matches,  it  is  a  very 
different  matter.  Women,  as  a  rule,  play  the  game 
more  economically  than  men.  They  do  not  take 
caddies  so  frequently  (one  reason  being  that  their 


360    FROM  THE  LADIES'  POINT  OF  VIEW 

links  are  shorter  and  not  so  tiring,  and  another  that 
the  average  woman  does  not  carry  so  many  clubs 
as  the  average  man),  and  when  away  for  a  golfing 
holiday  they  content  themselves  with  humble  lodgings, 
whilst  the  '  superior  '  sex  goes  to  the  hotel.  Women's 
clubs,  too,  are  run  on  a  cheaper  scale  than  men's  clubs. 
To  take  at  random  a  few  of  the  most  important  clubs 
affiliated  to  the  L.  G.  U.,  the  fees  are  as  follows  : — 
Walton  Heath,  entrance  £5,  5s.,  subscription  £4,  4s.  ; 
Barnehurst,  entrance  £3,  3s.,  subscription  £3,  3s. ; 
Brighton  and  Hove,  entrance  £2,  2s.,  subscription 
£1,  10s. ;  Edinburgh,  entrance  10s.,  subscription  £1  ; 
Formby,  entrance  £5,  5s.,  subscription  £2,  2s. ; 
Lytham  and  St.  Anne's,  subscription  £1,  Is.,  entrance 
£1,  Is.  ;  Royal  Blackheath,  entrance  £1,  Is.,  sub- 
scription 15s.  6d.  ;  Royal  Co.  Down,  entrance  £2,  2s., 
subscription  £1,  Is.  ;  Royal  Portrush,  entrance  £2,  2s., 
subscription  £1,  Is. ;  Sunningdale,  entrance  £2,  2s., 
subscription  £3,  3s.  ;  Westward  Ho,  entrance  £2,  2s., 
subscription  £1,  Is.  The  fees  for  men's  clubs  of  the 
same  standing  are  considerably  higher.  Another 
point  in  which  women  are  more  frugally  minded 
than  men  is  in  the  amount  of  balls  they  use.  Most 
of  them,  too,  are  content  to  play  for  the  sake  of  the 
game  alone,  and  do  not  think  it  necessary  always  to 
have  a  half-crown  or  more  on  the  result  of  the  match. 
Clothes  are  a  very  heavy  item  in  a  golfing  woman's 
expenditure.  If  she  plays  much  in  competitions,  she 
must  have  several  complete  changes  to  provide  for 
the  possibility  of  getting  wet  twice  or  even  three  times 
a  day,  as  occasionally  happens.  A  very  wet  day  will 


THE  LITTLE  THINGS  THAT  MATTER    361 

often  reduce  a  set  of  clothes  to  such  a  disreputable 
condition  that  they  are  useless  afterwards  for  any- 
thing but  the  very  roughest  wear.  The  expenses  of 
an  open  championship  meeting  are  roughly  as  follows. 
The  entrance  fee  for  the  competition  is  5s.  The 
hotel  bill  usually  comes  to  about  10s.  6d.  per  day. 
Rooms,  of  course,  can  be  obtained  at  a  cheaper  rate. 
Caddies  are  from  15s.  to  £1  per  week,  and  if  the  player 
does  well  she  is  expected  to  tip  in  proportion  to 
her  success.  Expenditure  in  balls  varies  with  the 
player's  extravagant  or  economical  disposition.  A 
great  change  has  taken  place  during  the  last  few  years 
in  the  time  of  arrival  of  the  competitors  at  a 
championship  meeting.  Formerly,  most  people  used 
to  arrive  on  either  the  Friday  or  Saturday  of  the 
preceding  week.  Now,  many  go  on  the  Monday  or 
Tuesday,  and  nearly  all  have  assembled  by  the 
Wednesday  or  Thursday.  This  change  is  partly  due 
to  the  regular  institution  of  the  international  matches, 
but  it  adds  considerably  to  the  expense  of  the  meeting. 
Regarded  as  a  game,  golf  may  be  termed  expensive, 
but  regarded  as  an  amusement  and  compared  with, 
say,  hunting  or  motoring,  it  cannot  be  considered 
outrageously  so.  The  fact  is  that  the  matter  lies  very 
much  in  the  player's  own  hands,  and  expenditure  can 
be,  to  a  great  extent,  adjusted  to  suit  one's  purse. 


Printed  by  T.  and  A.  COMSTABLE,  Printers  to  His  Majesty 
at  the  Edinburgh  University  Prea« 


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)MM1»I|EB2    TOM 

f[B ».«.    !  »«««• 


FEB    26  19i 

JAN  14 
JAN  21  1941 


AUG   87194^ 

1-*   1946 

jlMay'53101 

MAY  16 1953  U 


ye  19634 


.ft; 


25988K 


X 


